Festive Fics for your festive needs!
by sweeety
Summary: A series of Christmas prompt drabbles based on a certain tumblr post. I'll do as many as I can this year, and then hopefully continue every year around Christmas. One day I hope to finish all 99 of them. Mostly Paily. Some McHastings and other pairings.
1. 1 I could've sworn I baked more cookies

Based on these tumblr prompts. A new series of unconnected prompt drabbles.

It was the night before Christmas and all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even the mouse

The mouse was a consolation prize. The girls wanted a dog but they were far too young to be trusted with taking care of one. Emily worked through most of the day, and while her mom did agree to pick up the girls from childcare, she didn't want to contribute to the burden by adding a dog in the mix. They decided to settle for a smaller animal; one that can be kept in a cage or a tank.

Fish were not particularly interactive animals. Emily's daughters had grabby hands. She didn't want them sticking their hands in the tank and terrorizing some poor goldfish into an early death. She needed something far more hardy.

Cats were out of the question. As independent as they were, they had claws, and could cause allergies. Also they'd be expensive to keep and raise and she just didn't have the time for one of them.

Lizards were kind of creepy, and turtles could bite, so the only logical thing she could think of, to own, was a parrot. However the moment the girls looked at their sharp claws and their hard beaks, they were terrified. They didn't want to touch them. They didn't even want to go anywhere near them in the store, so all Emily could do was smile apologetically at the teen working the counter as she backed away slowly, her kids cowering behind her, holding onto her shins for dear life.

They were half-way out of the store when they bumped into some sort of display. Emily jumped out of the way, and turned towards the display she almost crashed into, reaching out with her hands to stabilize it. As she was fixing it up, Grace's eyes fell on a ball of fluff on a nearby counter. Curious, she approached it while her mother picked up the doggie chew-toys she'd knocked over.

The fluff-ball was almost completely round, but it was moving. She reached out for it but was barred from making contact by the glass enclosure. She'd hardly noticed it on her way there but now it was before her she wondered how she didn't see it. She tapped the glass, and the small hamster in the cage stuck its head up, looking around for the disturbance. Grace started giggling, which alerted Lilly to her presence and sent her bumbling along to her older sis.

Lilly's eyes fell on a distinctly white ball of fur. Whereas her sister's was grey and mellow, her own was active and exuberant. It ran so fast around its wheel that it nearly came off its hinges. Lilly couldn't blink without losing sight of it. She tried reaching for it but before she could clasp it in her hand, it bolted to the other side of the cage, unwittingly evading her tiny fingers' grasp.

Emily finished replacing the chew toys when she heard her daughters squeal. Lilly's hamster had found the food dish and busied itself with stuffing its tiny face full of sunflower seeds. It grabbed at them with its little hands and turned them, shoving them in its mouth one by one. The girls squealed with joy as they watched this tiny little ball of fluff perform the most mundane of tasks.

Emily wrapped an arm around the girls she she finally found them. "How many times do I have to tell you two not to wander off?"

"But mommy! Look! They're sooooo cuuuuuute!~" Grace and Lilly cried.

"I should get a leash for you two while we're here. A short one. With bells on it."

"Momma!"

"Allright, what is it you wanted to show me?"

Lilly and Grace pointed emphatically at the hamsters they'd been observing. Grace's brown one was fast asleep and Lilly's little devil was back at the wheel, sweating off the calories from its last meal. Emily squinted at the two small animals as she considered what her daughters were asking of her. Hamsters were cute and small and they didn't seem to be afraid of them. They were fluffy and didn't take up much space or require a lot of attention and cost a lot of money. But what was it that 'google' had said about animals with larger fur?

Suddenly images of herself having to scrub hamster hair off of her favorite outfits flashed in her brain. She gulped when she realized shedding was going to be a huge issue. She also remembered reading that sometimes their feces got stuck to their fur, and their owners had to clean it up. She nearly vomited when she realized her kids might spread hamster shit around the house.

She tried to dissuade them. She promised them Barbies and a beautiful new Barbie car -she refused to buy any dollhouses, for obvious reasons- and she even threatened to ground them but the girls were set on getting the little balls of fluff. Day in and day out, that's all they'd ever talk about. So Emily tucked her tail between her legs and escorted them back to Pet-topia the following Sunday.

They remembered exactly where the hamsters were. As hard as Emily tried to convince them to get anything else instead -even frogs! and she hated the slimy things- but they had their hearts set on getting a pair of hamsters. However fate was not on their side, as the pet store had completely run out of hamsters at the time. The last two went to a couple of kids who lived in a farm nearby.

Lilly sniffed and Grace stared off into the distance, dumbfounded. Emily knew what would happen next. She tried to reach for a tissue before Lilly started the waterworks, and as she did, out of the corner of her eye she spotted a pair of mice. She tapped Grace on the shoulder and pointed at them. Grace wandered over to them as Lilly started to sob. Grace poked her finger into the cage and the smaller mouse crawled up to her and gave her a sniff.

Lilly heard her sister giggling and walked over to investigate. As she did, the shop owner happened to walk by and decided to stop in for a chat. They're great pets for beginners apparently. Entertaining and affectionate, short fur with minimal shedding and allergies, cheap, clean and low maintenance. They're a perfect starting pet for teenagers and adults. Not so great for children seeing as they have such fragile bodies but Emily's kids weren't the kind that picked pets up. They just admired them from afar and petted them, gently, on occasion so it seemed like the perfect fit.

Dude tried to upsell a big mouse condo but Emily decided to go with a modest, generic cage, without any bells and whistles. She sighed as she fished the last $20 note out of her wallet, and fished around for the final five in change (yippee for Pet-topia's 2 for 5 sale on mice). She turned the radio up to tune her daughters out. She only had a couple of dollars left until she got paid tomorrow, but the expense was worth the smile on their faces. She enjoyed their smiling faces in the mirror but tuned them out lest they ask for ice cream or any other snacks on the drive home. She didn't have it in her heart to turn them down, but she didn't really have the money to stop for anything else right now.

She pulled into their apartment parking -she managed to finagle some dedicated parking in the back of the Brew, when she started renting the apartment on top of it- and heaved the box onto her back as she sent the twins ahead up to the landing with her set of keys. Grace let them all in and after a lot of planning and arguing they decided to put the hamster cage on the nightstand between their two beds.

Emily heaved the cage out of the box, set it up, and watched her daughters take turns tipping their mice into the cage through the door on the front of the cage. They slowly tilted their containers until their mice turned and walked out the sides. They took painstakingly long but the girls stood there and waited patiently until the mice came out in their own time. It reminded Emily of the coaxing she had to do to get people she wanted to date to come out, only it was closets, not tupperware containers, that they came out of.

The mice were newborns when they first bought them. They'd just barely grown in their fur. However with time and food they grew and grew. The cage seemed to shrink around them. The girls didn't know any better but Emily felt bad. So this year for Christmas she bit the bullet and went back for that mouse condo. $150. Can you believe it? The bastard spiked the price up for Christmas. But with Christmas around the corner, Emily had very few alternatives.

Of course, her first thought was amazon, but she knew the chances of receiving her package this side of New Year was damn near impossible. The closest PetBarn was closed for renovations and if she wanted to try another shop she'd have to hit the city. However with the shifts she picked up at the Brew -shifts she NEEDED in order to get through the Christmas period- she wouldn't have the time to hit up any of these shops before they closed.

Her only chance was to go into town and spend the night at a friend's house, then hit the shops when they opened the next morning, before her shift began. Otherwise she'd be stuck forking $150 over to a creepy teen who stared at her breasts.

She called up Hanna, and as fate would have it, she found out that her friend was out of town, but as she needed somebody to check in on her apartment and her plants, she was more than willing to have her spend the night at her apartment, despite her absence. She just had to lock up good and make sure her plants were still in good shape before she left her house. Emily thanked her about a hundred times before calling her mom and asking her if she could watch the twins overnight.

* * *

New York was beautiful this time of year.

The locals really went out of their way to decorate.

Rockefeller plaza was dreamy and the early snowfall made the city glimmer romantically. It made Emily think of France and the Eiffel tower. She'd always thought it'd be this really serene and romantic scenic place, where she could bring a loved one on a perfect date but it turned out to be a tourist's nightmare; their bags getting lost, being pushed around by the massive crowds, litter and homeless all over the streets, snappy waiters, overpriced accomodations, pickpockets, and god, all the noise! It's like Black Friday is every day in Paris!

'Paris syndrome' Spencer said it was called. Emily didn't care what it was called, she felt cheated by the whole experience.

There were parallels with Paris and the person she married. The most egregious and distinct parallel was that neither of them lived up to her expectations. She'd dreamed about them for so long, and built them up in her head but when she finally got to have them? She realized she didn't want them anymore. She wanted something else. But by then it was too late and she was already a continent away and more than $810 in debt.

She sighed as she reached for the door to Hanna's building.

It hadn't lasted long. The divorce proceedings were longer than their entire marriage. It was a whirlwind thing, brought about by mutual despair. Emily had just gotten out of a relationship she thought would last forever, and Alison? Alison just didn't want to be alone. She knew this was her last chance to not be a single mom and she took it. She sprung it on Emily and forced her to make a choice, and out of despair and fear and sadness and the tiniest bit of optimism, she got hooked.

She tried so hard to make it work. She worked her ass off for the kids and for herself. She didn't want to be the reason they grew up without two parents so she let a lot of things slide. The lying, the deceit, the laziness. She let Alison take advantage of her good nature because she couldn't look her in the eyes and said no. She let her make the big decisions; when to cut their hair, what color they should paint their rooms, when to pierce their ears, what school to put them in, if they should do any sports... she didn't even let her choose their middle names.

Finally though she put her foot down about one thing. One very big, important thing. She let the smaller things go, but something as big as this, was not something she take lying down.

When Alison wanted to move them halfway around the country for a job she had in the bag. A job at some prestigious school for rich, snobby brats. Alison loved the opportunity, and Emily didn't want to hold her back, but there was no way she was uprooting her kids from their home and moving them around the country so they could go to school with a bunch of snobby brats.

Alison glared. She was the big decision maker in this family and what she said went; or so she thought. Emily fought back however, harder than ever before.

She wasn't budging on this.

Alison tried her greatest hits: the puppy eyes, the sniffles, and even tried offering sex in return. That's when Emily realized that their relationship was transactional. You do this for me and I do that for you. It was a harsh, staggering blow to their relationship, realizing that it was no more than a business partnership. Though in retrospect she realized she should have seen it coming. The sex was reserved for special occasions and affection from Alison was a reward for her. She was surprised she didn't see it sooner.

It was like living in this idyllic bubble, where she thought she was living the life; working a great job, having a real family and being in love. Only when that bubble popped she realized it was all a lie.

They lived in Alison's house. First step was to get her stuff packed and get her children out of that place. They weren't happy about being shoved into Emily's old room, a few houses down from the house they've known all their lives as their own, but that was nothing compared to losing one of their parents.

Alison's abandonment left a huge hole in their hearts. One that Emily tried to fill with love and toys and other distractions. She tried her best but she knew that it must have felt like Alison was rejecting them. She and her friends had all had their fair share of abandonment in the past and they knew just how bad it stung when it came from somewhere completely unexpected. For Hanna it was her dad. Spencer, her birth mother and so on. And Emily? Emily felt a small stab every time her father was called out of town for work. She knew it was his duty. She knew he did it for his country and his family. But deep down it still felt like he was abandoning her every time he left. Especially when she was younger. Even though she tried telling herself he was coming back, the voice in the back of her head told her she was the reason he was leaving, and that he'd never return.

So she worked her ass off at work to compensate. She took and extra coaching gig at the local pool, working through saturdays and holidays, and she picked up some shifts at the brew after work on certain weekdays. She got back on her feet -without any financial help from Alison- and she picked up a lease on the apartment over the Brew. She hired a u-haul, loaded the toddler beds, and her boxes, and before she knew it, she had a new lease on life.

It was tough getting back on her feet. There were constant setbacks. Money was tighter than ever, with the cost of childcare, clothes and food for three people and the rent and other amenities really piling up, so she had to get creative. Her jobs paid for necessities, but full-day childcare was no longer something that she could afford. Her mother pitched in where she could but she had a life as well, and a job she couldn't be taking days off of all the time.

But living in a small town had its perks. Everybody knew everyone, and no one had a problem with her bringing her kids to work. After all, they were Emily Fields' daughters. They were kind and well behaved and curteous. Little angels. Just like their mother was.

Every morning they'd pick a toy out of their playbox. Their little fingers tapping against their chins as they examined every single one of them. Which would it be today? The Barbie? The Iron Man? Lightning McQueen? Elsa? Or Bob the Builder? Then they would each pick out a book, and grab their blankets. Em would strap them into their car seats and cover them up. She didn't want them getting cold in the morning chill. They'd all pile into her old beaten up Toyota and drive to Rosewood High where they'd spend the first part of their day.

Emily's office had three chairs; the swivel chair behind the desk, and two accent chair for visitors. Her girls usually played on the floor, but come nap time they would pile into the one chair, while Emily sat in the other and read them their story books out loud. One blanket would be folded and used as a pillow for the both of them, while they covered up with the other one, and they'd snooze well into the afternoon, when they'd be woken up for practice.

The pool was open all day but nary a swimmer dared ruin their hair for the day by practicing before the last bell rang, so she didn't really need to worry about supervising anybody before 2-3, but when that last bell rang, she was already at the pool, with a kid on either shoulder and a clipboard in her hand. She had to get them up and moving because if they stayed asleep, the bell would give them a rude awakening. So she'd give her little assistants a few tasks to get them up and warmed up.

The girls would help her haul equipment around. There were these underwater dumbbells they'd bring out from the equipment room. They thought that they were much stronger than the swimmers, since they had no trouble hauling them around when they were dry. That's why she never made them try to lift them when they were wet; she didn't want to crush their egos.

They were a permanent fixture around that pool, and when they got a little older, they traded their afternoon naps for laps in that very same pool. She taught her daughters to swim where she worked, and from 1 to 2-3 that entire pool was theirs. They'd wear themselves out, and be docile little lambs by the time they reached the Brew.

Working at the Brew came with its own benefits. Free hot chocolate was the girls' favorite perk. They'd get one every afternoon, when they finished their homework. They'd settle in with their cocoa and a plate of cookies, and read through their books for the day. They'd stop at the library and trade them out every other day, since it was on the way, and the boss didn't mind if she was a couple minutes late, and then they'd sit down with their bundles, and read through their entire piles of books, then the next day, they would trade. 'They were becoming regular little Spencers', Emily thought to herself.

She pushed the front door open and entered Hanna's apartment building. The place was air-conditioned throughout, and even the lobby was several degrees warmer than the outside. Emily stood there for a minute, taking in her surroundings as she took her gloves off. She couldn't quite remember which floor her friend stayed in, but she figured Hanna would have forgotten to tell the post office to hold her mail, and thus her mailbox would be stuffed with letters right about now. All she had to do was look for the letterbox that's overstuffed with letters and catalogs, and she'd find her number.

She found the postbox easily enough, and sure enough, it was full of mail. She tried prying it open so she could get the last few pieces of mail but as she pulled out this one last pizza flyer, a sudden breeze caused her to sneeze, sending her envelopes scattering on the floor in a little whirlwind. She shook her head as she bent over to pick up the scattered papers.

The sudden gust that blew the papers out of Emily's hands was caused by a person entering the building. A woman, around her age. When she noticed the mess she made she rushed over to help, taking her gloves off on her way so she could get a better grip on the paper. She quickly squatted down next to Emily and helped her gather all the scattered papers on her side of the floor, her fingers brushing against Emily's hand as they both reached for a flyer in the middle.

It all happened so quickly that Emily was left reeling.

One minute she was picking flyers up off the floor, the next she the pad of somebody's fingers against the back of her hand. She wasn't sure if the goosebumps were caused by the sudden contact or the deep, breathy apology she heard right after. All she knew is that she recognized that voice almost instantly, and both their hands stilled frozen at that moment as she felt the goosebumps, followed by a shiver running down her spine.

She turned her head towards her voice, her breath hitching when they finally made eye contact. Her eyes instinctively dropped to those familiar lips. She licked her own lips subconsciously as she stared at those lips, longingly. She couldn't move. This woman had cast some sort of spell on her. A spell that was only amplified when she heard her whisper her name. Their breaths began to synchronize as they looked into each other's eyes. And then Paige's eyes flickered down to Emily's lips..

Neither of them spoke after that.

* * *

"Did they brush their teeth _properly_?" Emily asked Paige as she walked back into the room.

"Brushed, flossed AND used their lil baby mouthwash. Did you brush _your_ teeth properly?" Paige smiled as she took off her robe.

"There's only one way to find out." Emily smirked as Paige crawled onto the bed next to her.

"I guess I'd better check then. Wouldn't want you to get any cavities so close to Christmas and miss out on all these gingerbread cookies we made earlier." Paige snarked back as she leaned in for a kiss.

"About those cookies... how many do you think we put away tonight?" Emily asked, pausing Paige by tapping a finger against her lips.

"I don't know. A couple dozen... Maybe 24 or 25. Why?"

"I could've sworn I baked more cookies than that..."

Paige shrugged her shoulders and Emily shook her head to clear it before pulling Paige in for a kiss. The kid part of Christmas Eve was over and now the adults got to play... well, the kid part was almost over. Less than a minute after Paige kissed Lilly and Grace goodnight and walked out of their room, they kicked their covers off and congregated around the plastic container they smuggled upstairs.

They wished each other a Merry Christmas as they nibbled on their pilfered cookies. They pulled off the perfect heist when their mothers weren't watching. Now they got to enjoy the spoils of their labor. And as for evidence? They'd got that covered. They pooled their crumbs together and and sprinkled them in their mice's feeding trough. After all, Christmas was for everybody. They giggled as they wriggled back into their beds, their tummies full of sugar, their teeth protected by the mouthwash they surprised Paige by insisting on using. All four Fields girls fell asleep with big grins on their faces that night.


	2. 2 You are so going on the naughty list

Paige finished scenting all their Christmas cards before pulling her hair back down and leaning back on the couch. She rubbed her eyes before looking at the time. It was six o'clock. She'd spent over an hour on these cards they were going to hand out to all their friends and families. She wanted them to be perfect for Pam, who was really into scrapbooking and crafty stuff like that, and hadn't really been in the Christmas spirit since her and Emily moved away for College.

Emily was off on a lecture. She hadn't told her what she was up to today but she knew she'd appreciate what she was doing. It was after all for her mother's benefit. Paige started packing the glitter and glue sticks away when she heard Emily turn her key in the door. She panicked, dropping the glitter everywhere as she tried to stash the cards in her backpack but it was all in vain. She was far too late to put away all that.

Emily walked into their apartment to find her girlfriend, covered in glitter, holding a small stack of cards like some sort of demented seasonal Elf who's just been caught red-handed.

"What have you been up to?" was the first thing out of her smirking mouth.

"I've been cleaning." Paige lied.

"Fuck me if I'm wrong, but aren't you supposed to leave a place cleaner than you found it, when you do that?" Emily teased as she shut the door, removed her scarf and began strutting towards her bashful girlfriend.

"I mean, usually, but I'm uhh trying this new technique I think I read about in some sort of magazine a while ago." Paige bluffed as Emily continued advancing towards her. It was a wonder she was even standing at all and hadn't fainted since all the blood had drained from her face and migrated to a Southerly region.

"So it's not some sort of crafting accident. This sort of thing was on purpose." Emily smirked as she quirked up a brow, challenging Paige.

"Why, are you inferring I'm some sort of accident-prone klutz?" Paige touted. She wasn't backing down from another challenge.

"I'm not inferring anything. Your clothes are doing that for me." Emily explained, wrapping her scarf around Paige's neck for emphasis, and pulling her in.

"Then I should do something about these clothes." Paige whispered, her face mere inches from Emily's waiting lips.

"Yeah, you should take them off." Emily smirked as she finally made contact with Paige's lips. The kiss was slow and passionate. Full of love. Paige pulled Emily closer by the waist as Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's neck. The cards all but forgotten as Emily's tongue slipped into Paige's mouth and started probing around, looking for its friend.

Paige felt herself grow warmer, which was quite a feat in their modestly warmed apartment, during the winter season. She reached up and cupped Emily's cheeks, leaving a kiss on her nose as she pulled back.

"I've just got to drop these off at the post office before I can help you get dinner started." She smiled as she warmed Emily's cheeks. Emily leaned her forehead against Paige's and took her scent in. The coconut scent really soothed her but around this time of year, Paige usually smelled like a mix of spices such as cinnamon, and the smell made Emily's mouth water so she licked her lips.

"You've been making Christmas cards?" She deduced. It was the most logical explanation, other than that her girlfriend had suddenly taken up stripping. Though of the two she wasn't she she wouldn't prefer the stripping.

"Just a couple. For your mom and my parents, and one for Hanna, Spence and Aria. I used that photo of us in our cardigans with the Mickey Mouse ears that we got when we went to Disneyland... I just thought they'd like that." Paige blushed as she dropped her arms, her signature head dip taking Emily's breath away. Emily wanted to ravish her there and then but there was still some talking she had to do so she settled for linking their fingers together.

"You made a card for my mom?" She smirked again.

"I figured she must miss you, especially around Christmas. When you told me she didn't bother putting the tree up... I just thought this might help her feel a little more Christmas-y." Paige shrugged, looking away again.

Emily cupped Paige's chin and pointed it towards herself. She wanted to look her straight in the eye when she thanked her. And she did. Then she sealed it with a kiss.

Paige's eyes shut and her hands stilled their worrying as Emily pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, sucked on it and then bit it. She was getting her turned on and that was dangerous when she had a deadline. If she didn't get to the post office today then these envelopes would have to wait 'til tomorrow. And then she might forget about them and never send them out. No, she had to put a stop to this! She had to pull away. And she did. Only she bumped right into the couch, her feet giving way as she flopped down in a very un-ladylike manner, with Emily flopping down on top of her.

The impact sent the glitter flying through the air, then gradually sinking down as if someone had slowed down time. They perched on Paige's messy hair, giving her a glowing aura and Emily was sure it was because Paige is an angel, an actual piece of stardust. The product of the sun and the moon, sent down from the heavens to make her life complete. Emily smiled peacefully as she leaned in for another kiss, far deeper than the ones before. Paige's lips joined her in a symphony of glimmering color as they kissed the day away.

The first thing Paige did when she woke up is check her phone. Yup, it was 4 o'clock. She wasn't sure if the post office would still be open but she figured it wouldn't hurt to check. Extricating herself from Emily's grasp, she buttoned up her jeans as she stood, grabbing for her sweater and the cards on her way to the door. One final pat down to make sure she had her keys and phone with her, and a quick dash back to the couch to leave a kiss on Emily's forehead and cover her with a throw-blanket before she dashed out the door.

She took the stairs two at a time as she threw her sweater on, waving at Mr Oak on her way down. Her bike would be slower than the car but she wouldn't need to worry about finding a parking space if she took it. However with the snow carpeting the streets she worried she might not be able to get around on her bike. Sure enough the second she touched down on the bottom floor she noticed the snow had piled up almost to her thighs.

"Oh sugar." She exclaimed as she took in the sight. Most people had abandoned the streets and hunkered down in their homes already. Schools had already let out for the week and most every business she could see had been thoroughly closed. Boarded up shopfronts were the only thing that greeted her outside the warmth and comfort of her apartment building.

She shivered a little as she looked back down at her watch. Only a minute had passed since she last checked the time but it felt like an eternity had lapsed and she was the last living human left on Earth.

She backtracked all the way to the apartment.

She stole inside, locking up behind her and turning the heating up a smidgen before taking a few quick strides over to the window. She wiped at the glass with the sleeve of her Christmas sweater before squinting out at the street below. It was a veritable winter wonderland out there. The snow buried the street under its frosty blanket, leaving naught but trees and the tops of cars sticking out. The tops of the lampposts were dusted so heavily with snow that Paige estimated an Eagle might have lost sight of them. And the awnings on the storefronts were all covered in a thick sheet of frost that Paige had estimated to be at least have a foot thick.

She looked at the condensation forming rapidly on the glass and took a step back, letting the pane fog up naturally before stalking sadly back to her girlfriend on the couch.

Emily wrapped an arm around Paige when she felt her girlfriend snuggle up to her. The Christmas cards laying forgotten on the coffee table, she made every effort to warm her girlfriend back up. She started rubbing up and down her arms, kissing her softly and then proceeded to straddle her and work her kisses down to her neck. With a smug grin she appraised her handiwork as she sat back on her haunches, Paige licking her lips, a couple shades redder than she was before, and several degrees warmer than she was when she walked through that door.

"Good thing you didn't go out to drop off those cards earlier. You might've been stuck by that snowfall. Can you imagine trying to get back here in this weather?" Emily smiled. Paige squinted her eyes as she took in what her girlfriend said. Then when it hit her, she sat straight up.

"It was snowing when you came home... You must have checked the weather... YOU KNEW! You knew we were due for some heavy snow and that's why you got-you wouldn't let me leave!"

Emily smiled a Cheshire grin. She shook her head as she played with the bottom of Paige's sweater.

"Snow's supposed to be hitting us hard this weekend. I guess you're stuck with me for a while."

Paige shook her head before grabbing Emily by the thighs and switching positions. She pushed Emily onto her back and rose up on her knees, towering over her as she reigned down a hail of tickles on her girlfriend.

"Stop! S-STOP!" Emily cried but Paige was relentless. She didn't stop until Emily cried uncle.

When she finally pulled back, worrying her bottom lip and shaking her head at her girlfriend, all she could say was "You are _so_ going on the naughty list" before diving in and capturing her lips once more.


	3. 3 Who could do this at Christmas

This one is more or less porn. Read at your own discretion. Set during the Christmas ep in s5 when everyone is over 18.

Emily hugged Aria, Spencer and Hanna goodnight as she and Paige finished bundling up to brave the weather. It was freezing cold, and snow was falling in swathes across the landscape yet Emily insisted on braving the snowfall and making it home for the night. She hugged her friends goodnight and wished them a Merry Christmas. Hanna and Aria would be taking up some of the Hastings' spare rooms until the weather cleared.

They wished each other a Merry Christmas one last time and Paige and Emily were off.

They held hands and stayed close together while the wind threatened to blow them off their feet. Spencer watched dutifully from her front window, making sure they arrived home okay while Aria and Hanna returned to the kitchen, pouring another round of brandy out for everyone. While it sucked that they weren't able to spend Christmas with their families, there were a few perks to getting to spend them with their boyfriends and their best friends. Not all their best friends, Hanna lamented as she thought once more of Mona and the sacrifice she made.

Emily unlocked the door and let Paige in. She dusted herself off as Emily locked up again and reached for the light switch and the thermostat. It'd been on low all day, barely keeping the inside any warmer than the outside.

Emily shook the snow off of her coat, taking it off and hanging it next to Paige's against the door. She reached for Paige, taking her by the hand and leading her all the way up into her room.

Emily was still wearing that tank top. Paige wondered how she kept so warm. Spencer peeled herself away from the window, having made sure that Emily and Paige got home okay, and rejoined everybody in the living room. Emily wrapped Paige in a warm embrace, her head resting on her shoulder as a few tears slipped out. Paige didn't feel them soak into her sweater.

Emily didn't wipe her eyes, nor did Paige. She didn't need to hide her pain. Paige lifted her onto the bed, placing gentle kisses on her lips as she reached over and switched on the lamp on her bedside table. She swept the hair out of her face and looked her in the eye before laying her forehead against Emily's, her arms wrapping around her neck as her own tears fell.

Emily wanted to say "I'll miss you" but the words wouldn't leave her mouth. She just bunched up Paige's sweater as she tugged her closer and closer to her.

Paige started laying kisses all over Emily's face. Her arms cupped her cheeks and she kissed her forehead where her own head lay. She kissed her lips but the tears weren't going away.

"Hold me." Emily finally said, and Paige understood. She stripped off her clothes and Emily did the same, and then they met under the covers and wrapped around each other like vines wrap around a stake. Paige held Emily and grounded her while her world fell apart. Her smell and her skin the only thing keeping Emily from floating off.

Emily curled into Paige, letting a few more tears fall. Paige stroked her back as she tried to stay strong. It was a Herculean task but she needed to stay strong. She couldn't fall apart in front of Emily right now. It was not her turn. Paige knew that if she broke down too then Emily would have to be the strong one and she didn't want to put that kind of pressure on the girl, so she fought back her tears and started humming a song.

It worked in a way.

Emily felt Paige's chest rise and fall with every breath. With her forehead resting on her neck she could feel the vibrations of every note she hummed and the smooth sounds mixed with the rocking calmed her down eventually. She started to sleep. Paige held her as her breathing evened out and when it did she started crying too.

Emily woke up again later that night. Paige wasn't sleeping she noted. She was still holding her -tight- and stroking her back. Emily settled onto her side, lying face to face with her lover, and reaching up to stroke her face. She saw the residue of tears in her eyes and knew she had been crying as well. She leaned in and kissed her cheek where she imagined a tear once fell.

Paige was as scare as Emily was. Scared of the future and scared of breaking apart. One thing they were no longer afraid of however is opening up. Paige didn't shy away from Emily's caresses that night.

They started out gentle and tender. Soft kisses -no more than pecks- in her hair, on her cheeks, then on her chest. She wrapped her lips around her nipple, sucking it in, then slowly licking circles around it before stroking it with her tongue. Her mouth's ministrations causing Emily's toes to curl and making Emily arch her back.

Paige followed up by taking the other breast into her hand, and rubbing the other nipple with her thumb. Emily herself shiver in delight. As Paige worked her breasts, she felt her pussy ignite. Desperate for contact when Paige started stroking her thigh.

Paige knew that Emily was impatient but tonight they had time. She spent minutes lavishing affection on each breast before moving down South. Emily bit her bottom lip, trying to choke down her moans as Paige started kissing her way down. Her mom might be out of town but you never knew when A was around. Her legs spread eagerly as Paige finally made her way down, not wasting a moment before diving right in.

Slow broad strokes of her tongue lapping at Emily's clit had her huffing her breaths. No longer embarrassed of the things Paige could do to her, she didn't feel the need to blush when she felt a finger probe her entrance, finding it already dripping with her juices. Paige made no comment on it either. She kept using her tongue to work Emily up.

Emily was so hot and bothered she kept grinding her pelvis against Paige's tongue. Theoretically, Paige need only hold out her tongue and let Emily fuck herself against it at this point in time. She was that far gone. But Paige was never a slacker. She always went above and beyond. And before Emily was forced to beg, she had entered her index and then middle finger.

"Yes!" Emily cried out, fucking herself against Paige's hand. Paige met her stroke for stroke as Emily ground up and down against her fingers. Paige's pace was tortuously slow however, Emily decided, as she cried out "faster! faster". Paige obliged, quickening up her pace, sending Emily closer and closer to orgasm.

Emily's breaths were coming out in short uneven puffs right now. Paige's fingers were working her into a frenzy. She clawed at the sheets as she spread her legs wider than ever, hoping they'd bring her a little closer to Paige. Paige for her part had stopped licking her clit now, and had quickened her pace. She knew that Emily was frustrated and she needed to be tipped over the edge, so she licked her thumb and started using it to rub Emily's clit, hard, while fucking her with her other hand.

"OH GOD YES!" Emily screamed, grinding against Paige's hands. She was so close. She was almost there. It would only take a few more strokes to bring her there.

When Paige curled her fingers up and started to look for her G-spot, Emily came, screaming her name.

Emily's head was reeling. She barely managed to stop seeing stars before she felt Paige extract her hand from her insides. She'd kept pressure on her G-spot and her clit, rubbing them both and milking all she could out of Emily's orgasm until she started to black out. It took her a while to come to. And when she did, Paige finally took her hand out, and replaced it with her tongue.

Emily was really tender. Every stroke of Paige's tongue was amplified a hundred times in intensity. Paige lapped at Emily's juices, drinking her in. She thought this would help bring Emily down but it was only turning her on more. When she tried quitting, Emily reached a hand down between her legs, and forced Paige's head back down. Paige smiled for the first time in a while. 'ok then' she hummed against Emily's lower lips.

She started slow again. Emily was dryer than before, thanks to her orgasm, and while she was horny, it took Paige a while to work her up to that level again where she could comfortably slip her fingers in and fuck her. She licked her clit up and down, and then in circles. She took it into her mouth and sucked it gently. She even gave it a gentle nibble. Emily was getting turned on but she was not quite ready yet.

So Paige traveled upwards, bringing a hand down to stroke her clit as she kissed up to her neck.

She rubbed slowly and gently at first but the more she was working Emily up, the more fervent and needy she got, so she started rubbing harder. Emily started rolling her hips again, humping Paige's fingers as she masturbated her, and finally Paige decided to go hard, putting a bunch of pressure on her clit with two fingers, and stroking it up and down, as fast as she could. Emily moaned into her ear - the sexiest sound Paige had ever heard- as she kept rolling her hips, trying to meet her strokes. Paige was going so fast however that Emily could no longer keep up. She just splayed her legs apart and focused on the feeling of the stroking as she pulled Paige closer with her hands.

Emily coiled in on herself when Paige finally brought about her second orgasm. She shook forward, causing Paige to almost lose her grip on her clit. She had an arm on the bed beside Emily, supporting all of her weight as Emily shot up into her arms like a cat stuck up a tree. She lowered her onto the bed, stroking her hair when she finally released.

Paige flopped down unceremoniously on the bed beside her. Her hand supporting her head so she could take Emily's body in, she ran a hand up and down her stomach as Emily came down.

Emily wiped at the beads of sweat on her forehead as she tried to catch her breath. That was amazing, once again, she smiled, as she thought out loud. Paige laughed as Emily turned on her side and reached over to steal a kiss from Paige's lips. They lay like that, no longer cold, as they chatted about the things they'd done.

They couldn't believe Alison's crap. How pretentious was that stupid party of hers? The shindig at Spencer's house was pretty fun though. And who'd have thunk that Tofurkey wouldn't suck that bad? And what about the message from A though? Emily was incensed about that one. "Who could do this at Christmas?" she cried. For a moment it seemed like everything was back to normal.

Paige reached for the light when she was halted by Emily. She quirked an eyebrow up inquisitively when Emily smiled and whispered "it's your turn now" as she started kissing down her chest.


	4. 4 You should have seen the toy store

Paige shook her head as another elderly woman pushed ahead of her in the queue. Part of her wanted to cause a scene -that was the third granny who pushed her way into the line!- but another, more rational part, told her to calm down and that it will all be over soon, and she'll be back at home in no time, surrounded by loved ones with a cup of hot cocoa in one hand, and a bowl of popcorn in the other, watching "It's a wonderful life" with the family.

She smiled at the thought as she rubbed her sore shoulder. She never expected shoppers would get so violent this time of year. But then again, she'd never really been shopping on Black Friday before.

As Emily joined her in line she wrapped a protective arm around her waist. Emily leaned over and kissed Paige on the cheek, making that smile widen as she linked their fingers up.

"The perfume isle is a nightmare!" Paige complained. "I almost got taken out by a soccer mom."

Emily giggled as Paige made a show of rubbing her arm. She was only joking around but under that sweater a bruise was already starting to form. She wouldn't find that out until later that night.

"Well, you think the perfume isle was bad? You should have seen the toy store. It was a bloodbath." Emily smiled. She managed to get out of it without a scratch, Paige noted, which despite her theatrics made her wonder if it was really that bad. Next time, she decided, she'd pick the toys up.

"At least we're not stuck picking up Christmas dinner." Paige shivered, remembering that time she was tackled by a grandma over a Christmas ham. It wasn't even the last one, it just looked really fine.

"Oh yeah, Spencer is definitely in for the shock of her life...if she survives."

"Well I used to play hockey with her, trust me, she has nothing to worry about. It's everyone else that should be afraid."

"Oh I believe you. The more agitated she gets, the higher the risk of her biting someone's head off in the store, but at the same time, arguing is not gonna help her if she gets to the shops late and there's nothing left."

Paige imagined a nearly post-apocalyptic emptied out supermarket. That's how she imagined the stores would look after today. How they managed to keep open throughout the week was beyond her. She doubted there'd be even a can of beans left at the end of the day.

"Yeah, but this is Spencer we're talking about. When the stores opened their doors she was probably the first one there. She probably camped out overnight, for the last three nights, just to make sure she got her shopping done on time. She probably made lists and charts and complicated equations calculating the volume of corn cans and estimating the area the ham would take up in her shopping cart so she could shop more quickly and efficiently. Odds are, she finished her shopping before we even got out of bed."

Emily laughed at that. Paige was right. With Spencer in charge of the food shopping, there would be no doubt that the food shopping would get done, and a hot meal will be waiting for them before they even got their shopping done. In fact, any moment now she expected the texts to start. Spencer was great at getting things done, but she was terribly impatient.

"Imagine though, how Hanna's doing right about now." Emily laughed. As impatient as Spencer got, it was nothing compared to Hanna. Spencer would just text them a couple of times, making sure they're alive and they're alright, and that they're still all on for Christmas Eve dinner. Hanna would yell and curse them all out for making her wait to get fed.

"She's probably frothing at the mouth. _'what do you mean we wont start? Are you trying to kill me, Spence?'"_ Emily giggled as they moved ahead by one spot in line. God it was taking forever to get ahead.

"Remember that time we couldn't find parking at the restaurant? And we found her sat at the bar chugging peanuts like she was wasting away?"

"And we were like _'Come on, Han, we're only a couple minutes late because we couldn't find a place to park!' _ and she was all _'How was I supposed to know you didn't just blow me off to go bone?'_ as if that's a thing we do. We've NEVER done that! SHE did it to US!" Paige exclaimed. Emily rubbed her back soothingly as she smirked. _If only she knew all the times she claimed her friends cancelled when really she had blown them off because she wanted to have sex with Paige._

The line moved a little. Paige exhaled. Spencer was gonna cut off their balls if they had any. Aria would hopefully cool her down. They hadn't seen each other in a while, so hopefully they'd get caught up in conversations about life and stuff -while Hanna snacked- and they'd forget about her and Emily for a while.

"So what'd you get my mom, anyway?" Emily asked. She hadn't had a chance to check in with Paige before they went out. She just knew that she had some last minute shopping in the perfume isle.

"Ah. It's this perfume I figured that your mom would have once had. I looked up nineties commissary stocks nearby and found out they sold this stuff. I just figured when you and your mom were staying at the base she would've picked up loads of this stuff."

Emily smiled at Paige's thoughtfulness. It isn't very often you find someone who gives a crap about the little stuff. Paige pulled the box of perfume out of the gift bag and showed it to Emily as they moved ahead a little bit in line.

"That's very sweet Paige. And yeah, I vaguely recall seeing some boxes of this stuff around the house once in a while. I'm sure she'll love it." She said, emphasizing her words with a squeeze. PDA was a bit embarrassing at their age, but she made an internal note to thank Paige a little better when they got somewhere a little more private.

The line slowly moved along. Everything was fine and dandy for a while, Emily and Paige joking around as they waited in the queue. Everything was going swell until there were only a couple people left in front of them. The third to last person left the line just as this blonde pushed her way into the front of the line.

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" Emily cried out. Nearly everybody else in the queue starting calling the blonde out. Paige squinted her eyes. The blonde looked familiar. She turned around -Paige assumed she was intending to apologize- and pointed down at her papoose. She carried a bundled baby that was tiny and fast asleep. Most people groaned but let her carry on her shopping. Paige and Emily though exchanged a wary look. They'd need to pull the blonde aside and have a word.

They waited for her to finish checking out before Emily -leaving Paige with the cart- nudged the blonde over to the nearest bench. She narrowed her eyes down at her old 'friend' as she waited for Paige to meet up with them there.

With a last apologetic smile, Paige walked away from the cashier and joined her girlfriend on the nearby bench.

"Explain. Now!" Emily demanded. Her words coming out in short bursts as she barely contained her anger. Paige subconsciously extending an arm towards her.

"I needed to do some Christmas shopping. What? You can't monopolize the shops, _Em_!"

"What are you doing with that?" She asked, pointing at the bundle hanging off her chest.

"Oh, this. I borrowed it off a friend who had a miscarriage. Well, I say 'borrow' but it's not like she'll need me to give it back."

"Alison, how did you end up with another baby?" Emily was close to tearing out her hair by this point. The circles Paige was rubbing on her back were the only feedback reminding her she was in a public place.

"What baby? This is a bundle of rags!" She explained, yanking a scarf and a sweater out of the papoose in her arms. "I just pretend I'm carrying a baby to get ahead in lines. It works like a charm!"

When Emily's glare didn't seem to let up, Alison continued.

"I'm not dumb enough to fall for any more of that 'A' crap. And I've been using protection, _mom._ So no, no need to worry about me dumping off any more of my brats at your doorstep."

Emily visibly recoiled.

"How are they doing by the way? Britney and uhh what was the other one's name? Beyonce?"

"OUR babies are doing fine. Thanks for asking." Paige butted in. She couldn't risk Emily losing her temper and causing a scene. Especially not when the adoption proceedings were still underway. Emily linked up their arms in a protective stance.

"Don't worry, I'm not here for them. I'm really just in town for Christmas. Visiting some friends."

"You don't have any friends." Emily spat out.

"Oh but I do. LOTS of friends. In VERY high places. The kind that can pull certain strings for me. So careful you don't upset me. I just might have to pull at some strings." Alison smirked.

Emily was beyond reasoning. Alison could've sworn she'd seen cartoonish steam blowing out of her ears. Paige tightened the grip on Emily's arm to keep her from lunging. She leaned in and whispered "She's just trying to get a reaction out of you. Hold it in. Hold it in for those precious babies. Soon we'll have full custody and she'll be out of our lives. Just stay strong, Em. Pull it together."

Emily clenched and unclenched her fists. She did it a couple of times before blowing out a deep breath and looking away. She looked at Paige. At her marvelous wife. Her brilliant, magical wife. She looked up at her and smiled, and then she leaned in for a kiss.

"You're right. Let's go home, Paige."

"Ugh" Alison choked out, rolling her eyes.

Emily didn't give a damn what she said though. She held her wife's hand as they pushed their shopping cart over to their car. Alison tried calling out a couple slurs as they walked by but nothing stuck. Emily and Paige just let the abuse roll off their backs. Aria however wouldn't.

Aria was running on her own time. She would arrive whenever she would arrive. The only thing she thought she had to pick up was a bottle of wine, however somehow she found herself second-guessing the gift she'd bought her mom. Having wandered into the linen section, she thought perhaps she should buy her a hat, so next thing she knew she was in the perfume isle. She shook her head and just grabbed a bottle of fragrance -not too cheap, but not too expensive. Exactly twelve bucks- and waltzed back towards the linen isle, somehow winding up instead in the cashier line. She shrugged as she decided to just cash out, easily waiting a good half hour in that line.

And it was in that line she first noticed her buddies, Emily and Paige. However by the time she realized it was them, one of them had already gone. She tried to keep an eye on Paige but she almost lost her when she finally got to check out. She only really caught the end of their confrontation with Alison. While she didn't hear much though, what little she did hear incensed her. She wouldn't just let her friends take that sitting down.

Alison may have had friends in high places, but so did she.

She dialed Spencer's number almost immediately. Before Paige and Emily had even loaded their car, Spencer was on the phone with the Rosewood DA. She had probable cause -the custody battle- and with the promise of a really good wine, she had managed to get Toby hooked up with a warrant for the store's camera feed. While the store manager wasn't particularly forthcoming, making up lies, their good friend in the cybercrimes unit, Caleb, managed to hook them up, and before the end of the day they had spread copies of the recording of Alison harassing a homosexual couple and shouting homophobic remarks to her boss, her lawyer and the Rosewood Police. By the time Emily and Paige sat down with their friends for dinner that night, Alison was being fingerprinted and processed by a forty year old chain smoking cop.

While this wouldn't ensure that Alison stayed out of their lives, but if there was a chance it would help Emily and Paige's custody case, they had to take it. So they ate and tried to be merry for the sake of the kids while in the back of their heads they worried. They would keep worrying long after the judge ruled a verdict. But for now they could at least rest easy knowing they've done all that they could do about it. They'd given justice their best shot. And if that all failed, they could always turn to the dark side, Mona joked. Everyone laughed awkwardly while she and Spencer made some intense eye contact. Not yet. They wouldn't resort to that yet.


	5. 5 ask Santa for a new personality

This one is McHastings, folks!

"It's a B!"

"No, it's a G!"

"NO! It's a B! LOOK AT IT!'

"It's a G! Maybe you should ask Santa for some glasses."

"Maybe you could ask Santa for a new personality, it's a B!"

Paige and Spencer had been going at it for two hours. Their game of scrabble had been getting increasingly competitive, to the point where they'd almost come to blows over which spelling of the word 'omelet'. Spencer wouldn't let Paige put it down without an extra 'te' but Paige was sure it could be spelled without it.

They're no strangers to clashing of course. Their relationship beginning when they were mere rivals on the school's hockey team. The more they liked each other the more aggressive they'd get until one day Spencer lashed out at Paige in the school showers. She thought that would be over. That she'd lost her for good. Until Paige meekly sat beside her at lunch the next day. Spencer's heart broke to see the girl lose all her spirit. It was the thing she loved about her the most. So she apologized and never got that rough with her again.

Paige for her part understood what kind of pressure Spencer was under. She had a dad as well, who was also keen on seeing his kid become a champion. But her dad didn't live and breathe perfection like Spencer's family. He was still... well, her _dad_. He wanted her to excel for her own sake, not for his ego or anything like that. And if she failed? When she fell off her bike or lost a swimming race? He'd still be there. He'd give her an ice cream and a pat on the back. Spencer's dad was very stingy with both ice creams AND pats on the back.

So Paige made sure she let Spencer know that at least someone was rooting for her. She'd started showing up to her dorky mathlete meets and her debate club heat. She even made a banner she held up with Spencer's other friends. Spencer was shocked to see her there, but having her once rival around just gave her that much more reason to want to impress.

She blushed when she met up with her after her first mathlete round. Paige greeted her with a HUG and ruffled her hair, and she smelled so... wow. Spencer's mind was hazy. She almost missed an easy question on the Industrial Revolution that she knew inside out! She just felt dizzy from that crushing hug. It's not like she liked the other girl, she just winded, that was all.

Spencer tried to convince herself that nothing was wrong. Everything was the same as it always was and she did NOT in any way care that Paige started showing up to things for her. It was kind and it was refreshing. That's all. Spencer wouldn't care if she suddenly stopped. Or so she thought until that stormy day.

Her mathlete meet was out of town in this little dingy bar. It was rainy and they were close to cancelling cause nearly no one showed up there. In fact a lot of people showed up to a different place. Spencer never considered that she was the one who got the address wrong. She waltzed in like she owned the place, surprising the odd biker and factory worker that frequented the pub over there as she demanded she be told where the rest of her mathlete club was meeting her. Surely the barman or someone else in charge would know.

Paige had arrived at the cafe where Spencer's friends were supposed to be meeting her. Hanna and Aria were there, and so was Emily, but where was Spencer? She tried calling her only to find her phone engaged. So on a whim she tried driving around town. She'd once had gotten a lift home from Spencer, when her bike tyres were slashed by some jealous jerk. She tried to remember the color of Spencer's car. It was silver...or was it white?

She drove for fifteen minutes in the rain before she passed Spencer's car parked outside some dingy bar. She had to do a double-take at that. She would've driven past it had it not started pouring around that time, forcing her to pull over just ahead of the bar. When she saw Spencer's ride in the rear view mirror her spidey-sense went off. What would she be doing inside this bar? IF that even was her car, cause odds are it wasn't. But Paige had to make sure either way. So she bolted from her car and sprinted in through the rain.

Sure enough, it was Spencer's car, and Spencer herself was there. Surprised to see her completely saturated in rainwater, and indignant at the insinuation that she arrived at the wrong location. Surely everyone else was wrong, and Spencer was right. Paige was so frustrated at her bullheadedness she wanted to just grab her by the shoulders and shake her. Instead she started to laugh.

Her laugh was magnificent, Spencer noted. It was surprisingly infectious, and Spencer found herself smirking as she eyed her friend. Completely drenched, from head to toe. Her pulse quickened when she took in the way the material of her clothes clung to her skin. She licked her lips as she noticed the water droplets slipping down her collar, and as she followed them down she noticed the stiffness of Paige's...

Spencer cleared her throat as she let Paige lead her to her car. Paige drove her to the cafe only to find her mathlete meet was cancelled due to the weather making it hard for some of the competitors to attend. So Paige drove Spencer home, using her already drenched self to protect her from the rain when she walked her to the door. Spencer's umbrella was in her own car, along with her keys and her bag. The only thing she kept on her person was the keys to her car. So instead of driving her home and letting her walk home in the rain, Paige invited her to spend the night.

Paige's parents were in Scranton. This was a usual occurrence and no cause for alarm. Paige let Spencer in without a fuss, leading her up to the spare bathroom, and handing her a towel. Spencer showered quickly and brushed her hair, getting dressed in whatever Paige set out. She'd stayed over before and knew where the spare room was so she was done and dressed before Paige wandered out of the bath.

Spencer figured they could maybe watch some movies together or something, so she'd let herself into Paige's room. Paige didn't object; she just had to get dressed. So Spencer made a show of looking away while surreptitiously watching Paige get dressed through the reflection on her lamp. She couldn't really make much out, an elbow here and a flash of skin there. Spencer wondered why she even cared. "Curiosity" she told herself. It was pure competitiveness. She was just checking out the competition. She tried to quench that voice that told her this had nothing to do with competition.

Paige threw on a massive hoodie that must have belonged to her dad, and a pair of short pants. Even though it was raining the humidity was high. Summer rains were annoying like that.

She settled onto the mattress, beckoning Spencer closer until she rested with her head against her chest. Spencer wondered if that pounding was her own heart, or the combination of both their heartbeats. It seemed too quickly paced to be just one heart, but she wasn't sure if she was close enough to sense Paige's. She burrowed her head closer to Paige's left side. Ah, there it was. Paige's heart. She smiled as she realized it beat just as fast as her own.

Time slowed down. Everything was peaceful for a while. Their breathing synchronized just like the beat of their hearts. They were half an hour into the movie but neither girl took in a thing. They only concentrated on each other. Paige kept her eyes glued to the tv, playing innocent while her hand massaged Spencer and Spencer's eyes had shut as the feeling of Paige's hand rubbing circles against her back soothed her almost to an early nap. It was barely seven thirty! Spencer rarely slept earlier than one!

Paige yawned, stretching her arm. Was this a move? Was she reaching for a kiss? As Paige looked down to ask Spencer if she's getting bored by Big Momma's house, Spencer looked up and their eyes met. Paige forgot what she was about to say as she was completely taken in by those beautiful eyes.

Their lips met in the middle, even though Paige was caught off guard. She felt Spencer's mouth moving against hers and started moving back, hard. She wanted to know what her mouth tasted like so when Spencer had prompted, she let out her tongue. Her fingers entangled in Spencer's long hair as managed to find out the taste of her mouth. Spencer coating her tongue with her own, dashing it playfully around while Paige's tongue chased it into her mouth.

"Will you guys cut it out? It's clearly a D!" Hanna interrupted.

"No, it's not! It's definitely a G!" Spencer insisted.

"This is why you never bring out the board games during Christmas, Hanna!" Aria scoffed. "You KNOW what these two are like! They'll be at it all night!"

"Yeah." Hanna exclaimed. "But I figured after they fight they probably have super steamy makeup sex. So consider that your Christmas present, you guys. A steamy, sexy, hot, makeup session, courtesy of Hanna, tonight!" Hanna proudly beamed out.

"Shut up, Hanna!" Spencer rolled her eyes. Paige couldn't respond, she was too busy trying to hide her smirk. There was something to be said about their make-up sex. Hanna didn't know it but she was spot on about that. Spencer decided enough was enough. "You know what? I'm getting tired. How about we call it a night?" The other girls nodded their heads as they more or less started to pack up.

Hanna was smirking all the way to the car.

"What's so funny, Han?"

"Oh come on! You don't get it? They brushed us off so they can make up!" Hanna winked back at Aria.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Han."

As soon as Paige finished putting their copy of scrabble away, she felt Spencer wrap her arms around her waist from behind.

"I thought they'd never leave." She sighed as she started kissing Paige's neck. As much as Spencer hated to admit it, Hanna was right.


	6. 6 Carolers coming up the street

All in all this Christmas was a humble affair. Emily's dad came home as usual, and they set up a tree, but Emily wasn't really feeling the Christmas spirit this year. Paige tried to cheer her up. They watched all these Christmas movies together, in the hopes that it'd rekindle her Christmas spirit but nothing helped. Finally Paige sat Emily down and asked her what was bothering her, and to her surprise it was the same thing that'd been bothering her as well.

With Paige moving to California at the end of the Spring semester, there would be very little time for them to plan how they'd stay in touch the next year. On top of all that, Paige would miss on a lot of High School things by checking out early and leaving town, including prom, which Emily had her heart set on going to with her. The thing that bothered her most was all the little things they wouldn't get to do together. No more swimming practices, or cuddles or... other stuff. She wouldn't get to hold Paige, or kiss Paige for months! How was she going to be okay with that?

Paige didn't know how she could help with that, but she promised to call and write, and try her best to make it to some of the bigger things for her. She tried to convince her that things were so bad, and that even if they didn't see each other for a while, they'd have their whole lives to make up for the lost time. That seemed to appease Emily some. Truly the concept of making up for lost time got stuck in Emily's head for a while. She didn't just want to make up for lost time, she decided. She wanted to make the most of the time they had left.

She printed out a schedule, figured out what shifts she could take off so she could be by Paige's side in the school pool (maybe not in the water, but cheering in the stands) and she tried to cram her homework into the free period she had, when Paige was in biology with Aria, where she'd had to do the bulk of the work to keep herself and Aria from flunking out, since Aria refused to dissect frogs, cow hearts and anything else the teacher threw at them, on the grounds of being a vegetarian. Emily would drive to Paige's house in the morning, pick her up for school, then she'd stay back until Paige finished swimming practice -where she'd complete whatever homework she had left- and then take Paige with her to the Brew, where Paige would study while Emily worked, and she got to watch her from afar at least, and check in on her and bring her cupcakes and coffee on the house.

Sometimes her friends would join Paige there. She did need a lot of help from Spencer specifically in order to keep her grades up so she could graduate early. Due to Paige and Emily's sickeningly sweet antics however, Hanna and Aria stopped showing up. Aria got jealous and Hanna just quit 'homework club'. She figured she could skate by on her looks alone. Plus her mom bought her a new season of her favorite show...

Spencer and Paige were the only ones that stuck it out for the long run. Toby would occasionally pass by on his way to and from jobs, and he'd sit with the girls a little while, and chew the fat. But Emily's attentiveness and near babying of Paige even started to make Spencer feel left out. After the first couple of days, Spencer started looking at Toby accusingly until he was guilted into buying her a coffee and massaging her back.

When Emily's shift would end, she'd drive Paige back, then head home, eat, sleep and shower and do the whole thing all over again. She enjoyed spending all that extra time with her girlfriend, but she was starting to grow weary of the routine. Not just the tiring driving or the waking up early and having every moment scheduled out, but she missed just spending time with Paige. Holding her somewhere private and kissing her neck as she whimpered in her ear. She needed a change, fast. And luckily an opportunity fell right on her lap.

A few houses down lived a single mom. Her kids were usually well-behaved. Turns out she got a couple tickets to a concert on a Friday night and needed someone to watch her kids for her. The concert was in New York so she'd need someone who could stay out late to watch her kids, and probably sleep over. If the babysitter got on well with the kids and didn't mind being there, then the mom would avoid driving back the same night and stay in a hotel in the city, and drive back the next morning. It would all depend on how well the kids took to her.

The cogs in Emily's head started turning. Empty house, late night sleepover, she could spend time with Paige without a bunch of people hanging around, and she could finally kick her feet up for a while and just relax. It was like a dream come true. Emily accepted the job without even asking what the details were. She was just that excited to finally get some time alone with her girl.

Friday rolled around. She'd called work ahead of time to ask for the night off, and she'd talked to Paige and the single mom. She was to be by the house by 7. The kids will have been fed and be just about tired enough to go to bed. All Emily would need to do is watch tv with them for a couple of hours and make sure they were in bed by nine or -at the latest- ten.

Emily nodded eagerly as she was handed the kids to the house.

"The door locks automatically when it's shut so keep these on you at all times" the mother warned.

"Sure!" Emily smiled back. She shoved the keys in her back pocket and made a mental note to hang them off her belt loops. A note she'd forgot the moment she shut the door behind her host.

Paige was on the couch, playing pat-a-cake with kid #1, Veronica, while kid #2, Kevin, sat on a beanbag playing video games. Emily was supposed to help him with his homework when she got back so she made a beeline to the living room, passing by the kitchen and picking up snacks. Maths was not her forte and she hoped the snacks and video games would help distract Kev.

The night passed really smoothly. Paige beat the shit out of Kevin at street fighter, while Veronica braided Emily's hair. Then they watched some cartoons before going to bed. Stacey -the mom- decided to come home the same night, cause she missed her babies too much, and all Emily and Paige had to do was wait for the concert to finish and the mom to get back, at around midnight.

In the meantime they got into some of the booze they snuck in. Paige's uncle gave her a few mini bottles of whiskey as an early Christmas gift. She brought them with her since it'd be a couple of hours until she'd be driving again. She busted one open and they each took turns taking swigs while slow dancing around the living room to Christmas songs. Emily looked magnificent in her tank top, and Paige's sweater was dorky but adorable.

The alchohol dampened their brains pretty quickly though, and Paige absentmindedly dipped Emily while she had just finished taking a swig, resulting in the tiny bottle spilling all over her pretty white tank.

The panic set in immediately as Emily's top was doused in ALCHOHOL. There was no way they could get away with drinking now.

"Don't panic!" Said Paige as she panicked herself. There was two hours to midnight and the clock was ticking by fast!

"Don't panic? What's my mom going to think? What's my dad going to say? And what about Stacey? Think she'd intended to leave her kids to a bunch of booze hounds?"

"What if we just explain the situation? I'm sure she'll understand, she was a teenager once!"

"Understand what? That we betrayed her trust? She's not gonna understand! She's gonna tell on us and then we wont get to see each other again until we're thirty five!"

"Okay, what do we do then?"

"We need to hide... Hide the evidence. Get rid of the bottle. Tip everything out, throw it in the... no, chuck it in the trunk of your car, and fill it up with water and red wine vinegar! In the meantime, I'll wash my top. If we're lucky we might get away with this."

"Ok!"

Paige grabbed the bottle and headed straight for the kitchen as Emily pulled her tank top off. She prayed that it wouldn't stain as she jogged over to the laundry room. Their washing machine was just like the one she had at home, so she knew exactly how to turn it on and what to do. She pre-soaked her top, trying to scrub it up as well as she could manage before chucking it in the washing machine for a quick spin.

Paige sought the vinegar out. There was no red wine vinegar so she grabbed the white vinegar, and a bottle of coca cola and topped her bottle up. She hopped no one would try drinking it before she threw it out as she took the side door to get to her car. In her rush however she forgot to take keys with her and she got locked out.

The bottle in her trunk, she tried to compose herself before walking back but she couldn't manage to shake the feeling of nervousness. She felt guilt in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't quite figure out why.

In the meantime, as Emily stood alone in the laundry room, she thought she noticed a glint out of the corner of her eye. She waited a bit and sure enough she saw it again, only this time, it seemed brighter and closer.

Paige tried the side door again to no avail. She figured the front would be locked but she distinctly remembered just walking out of the side door, and not locking it as she walked out. Was somebody messing with her? Was she really locked out?

A third glint and Emily finally figured it out. It was a camera flash. Someone was taking photos of her!

Paige figured she'd try the laundry door. After all, even if she was locked out, Emily should be in there, taking care of her top. She'd barely taken three steps however before she saw Emily bolt out, bare backed and incensed, yelling at something she saw.

"Yeah, you better run! A-hole!" Emily jeered at the retreating figure.

"Em?" Paige asked, not entirely sure she wasn't seeing things. Maybe she was drunk.

"Paige!" Emily smiled as she noticed her. Proud of herself for having gotten rid of whatever A was stalking them tonight.

"Your clothes, Em!" Paige pointed out, her eyes bulging as she stared at Emily's bare chest, flabbergasted.

"My what?" Emily asked, looking down at what Paige was pointing at. Her hands instinctively shot up, covering her breasts as she blushed.

"S-sorry!" Paige stammered as she looked away. Emily shook her head, angry at herself as she stomped back towards the laundry exit. She tried with all her might to turn the knob and get back in but it was stuck! There was no getting around it.

"H-here. Let me try." Paige offered, and Emily stood off to the side while Paige tried warming up her hands for better traction so she could twist the knob and get them back in but nothing was working.

"I think it's locked... Do you have a set of keys?" Paige inquired, casting a side-glance at Emily. Emily rolled her eyes and felt around her hips with one hand while covering her breasts with the other. As moment after moment ticked away, Emily became more concerned as she couldn't feel the ring of keys hanging around her belt loops.

"Let's just retrace your steps. There's no need to panic!" Paige assured her, resting a tentative hand on Emily's upper arm, hoping she could soothe her. She walked back to the spot she met her in the yard, and started kicking snow around, hoping that perhaps the keys fell down, but all of that was for naught because the keys weren't in the ground.

"Fuck!" Paige huffed under her breath. She tried to remain positive but she was running out of options.

"Find anything?" Emily called out. With the snow and the freezing cold, she was left hopping around from foot to foot, trying to remain warm.

"No, sorry. I guess we'll have to find another way in." Paige tried. Emily eyed a particularly sharp looking stone. Maybe she could knock a window pane out. But how would she ever explain that?

"What if we called for help?" Paige asked. Maybe Stacey had a spare set of keys lying around. They could just explain they stupidly got locked out. But if she doesn't, then she'd have to come home and let them in herself, using her own keys, and walk in on Emily dressed like... This would destroy their babysitting gig. If only there was somebody else they could call that could help them get inside.

"That's a brilliant idea, Paige! We just need to call someone with the exact same set of keys that would understand the shit we got in and wouldn't mind taking time away from their family so close to Christmas to help us out!" Emily snarked. She was being sarcastic but the cogs in Paige's head were turning and "I've got it!" she belted out.

"We wont find anyone with the exact same set of keys, but we both know of someone who's been known to pick a lock or two in their time. Someone whose family is out almost every day of the year, who's friends with us and knows all about A and stuff, and wouldn't mind helping us out in a pinch! Spencer!"

Emily's eyes lit up. She pulled Paige in for a passionate kiss as Paige awkwardly struggled to keep her hands to herself. When she pulled back, licking her lips, she smirked as she saw Paige, blushing, her eyes flitting around, trying to avoid staring at her breasts.

Emily pulled her phone out of her back pocket and started to dial. A few beeps later and she was in a breathless rant, explaining -in detail- their precarious situation to someone she knew would actually understand. Spencer promised she'd get her boots on and be right by, and Emily hung up the phone, and started pacing around the back yard. Did Spencer know which house they were in? Maybe she knew roughly where they were, but someone would have to usher her in.

Paige was curiously looking around the side of the house for Spencer. She thought she'd noticed a dash of dark hair and decided to investigate, but it was just some random girl. Emily poked her head around the side of the building and whisper-shouted to her.

"Do you see her yet?"

"No."

"Will you tell me when she comes?"

"Of course!"

"I hope she hurries up." Emily lamented as her fingers started to go numb. Paige stole a look at her and against her better judgement she jogged back into the backyard. When she was closer she pulled the sweater off her head, and pulled it down over Emily's head. She only had a bra on underneath, but it was better than nothing and Emily looked like she was starting to freeze.

"What are you doing?" A hunched over Emily asked, completely astonished.

"You looked like you really needed this. Me, I'll survive. I'm a tough cookie."

Emily smiled appreciatively before getting an idea. She'd seen this in a comedy once, and hoped the threadcount of Paige's sweater was strong enough to hold as she lifted it over Paige's head, and pulled it down around her, until they were both chest to chest in Paige's sweater. Paige blushed and shook her head as Emily wrapped her arms around her, and with a hug and a kiss and some caressing they managed to stave off the cold for a while.

They switched positions after a while. Emily was in front, and Paige in the back. She wrapped her arms around Emily's waist as Emily stuck hers through the arm holes and wrapped them around Paige's from outside the sweater. And in perfect synchronicity they walked around the side of the house to the front yard.

Emily stuck her head around first, and took a look down the sides of the path. She didn't see much from the right side, but from the left, beside Spencer's house, she saw a group of adults with kids walking around.

"Abort! Abort!" She whispered out.

"What? What's wrong this time? Is it a dog or something out?"

"No! Worse! There are carol singers coming up the street!"

"Oh shit!" Paige gasped as she started backtracking into the yard. To a friend or a random passerby they would just look like an overly affectionate couple, but if they got caught by a nosy group of carolers, things would get BAD out there. With Emily trailing behind, Paige used her grip around her waist to lift her up and backwards run all the way into the yard. Now with the carolers there, they had a new problem. How would they get Spencer in the yard without them noticing? They needed to formulate a plan, and quickly, because with Christmas so close, a good chunk of the neighborhood was out which meant they didn't have much time before the carolers were at their door.

Paige let Emily down with a soft thud. Emily turned around in the sweater and started to freak out. "What are we gonna do? If they see us my life is over? My mom is gonna murder both of us!"

"I don't know, but we have to remain positive. They haven't seen us yet, and the kids are asleep with all the lights off upstairs, right? So even if they do come by, they'll probably think that everyone is out."

"Yeah but I left the tv on downstairs!" Emily panicked, freaking out. "And what if Spencer arrives and comes to the backyard? Wont they think she's breaking into the house? What would they do then?" Emily rambled.

"We'll just call Spencer and tell her not to come out yet. Or to come through the back. It will be okay, Em!" Paige assured her as she whipped her mobile out.

Emily snuggled into Paige's shoulder as she called Spencer up. She agreed to come around the back, and Paige and Emily settled down by the laundry door in the back, Paige rubbing soothing circles around Emily's back as they waited quietly for the carolers to pass.

"Is this house empty mom?" They heard a little kid call out.

"I don't know, baby. The tv's on, but I don't hear any talking." answered the mom.

"Well, we could always try knocking!" someone called out from the back.

"Yeah but, who'd sit around in the dark, watching movies like that, on the Eve of Christmas?"

"I think we should move on." Someone proposed.

"I think so too." The obvious leader agreed before everybody started scurrying further down the street. Paige let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding as she and Emily began to smirk. It seems they'd gotten away with it. And as Spencer rounded the back, they genuinely thought they had.

Spencer got her lock-picking kit out of her bag. Paige was surprised she had a thing like that, but nothing about Spencer really surprised Emily at this point in time. She tried picking the lock, and almost got them inside, before, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a faint whirling sound.

"Does this house have a security system, Em?" Spencer stopped and asked.

"I uhh... I heard it had this auto-locking thing or something like that, where once a door was opened, and shut, it was automatically locked."

"Yeah but is there like, a camera system and stuff? Spencer clarified.

Emily shrugged and Spencer tried to compose herself. If this was security locked, opening it could trigger a silent alarm. She needed to know, definitively, if she had screwed up.

"What's Samaritan systems?" Paige suddenly asked.

"They're a private security company, why do you ask?"

"Because that sticker there has their name and number on it." Paige replied.

"Fuck."

...

"Ok, hand me my mobile."

"Is there a way you can get around that?" Emily asked, unsure if even Spencer had the capabilities for that.

"No, but I think I know someone who can get us around that. Call Caleb up."

A few minutes and a call to Caleb later, and the lock was disarmed, the door was opened, and the camera footage looped back, courtesy of a quick call to Mona. It was as if nothing had ever happened that night.

Emily's clothes were washed, and she and Paige shuffled around the laundry room in her stretched out sweater as she shoved her bra and tank top in the dryer, then they thanked Spencer, and she was on her way out.

Paige dropped kisses all over Emily's neck in the laundry room as they waited for her clothes to dry, and before they knew it, enough time had passed by, but Paige and Emily were too invested in their making out to tear themselves off of each other, and ended up scrambling apart when they heart Stacey's keys in the lock.

Emily rushed out of Paige's sweater, with Paige trying to make it fit back without dangling down off of her and pooling around her stomach. She walked out of the laundry first, and made a beeline for the kitchen, pouring herself a shaky glass of water as Emily threw her clothes on without bothering to hook up her bra as she left the laundry through the toilet, rinsing her hands in the sink on the way back out.

"Oh, hi Stacey, I didn't realize you were back!" Emily greeted the mom when she had finished punching the security code in.

"Hey! I didn't see you there! Was everything alright?"

"Totally! They slept like angels. Haven't heard a peep from them in hours."

"And they didn't load up on sugar did they?"

"No! they were both really well behaved!" She replied, omitting the "Indian burn" Kevin had given his sister before bedtime.

"Hello!" Paige called out as she came out of the kitchen with two glasses of water. "I didn't know you were here! May I offer you a glass?" She asked the older woman, as she pushed the charm up to eleven.

"No thank you, that's alright. I was just asking Emily about your night."

Paige blushed. "NOTHING HAPPENED!" She almost yelled out, in panic. Stacey looked between them confused as Emily subtly elbowed Paige. Paige and Emily wore identical shit-eating grins, and since the house wasn't knocked down and the kids were -presumably- still alive, Stacey decided not to push things further. They were teens. They were probably just making out.

"Well listen, here's what I owe ya, and you're welcome to babysit any night that suits you. I'm out a lot, just not usually in this season. But stay in touch, you girls have been a great help." she replied as she fished around her purse for the money she owed them. Emily took her share and shoved it in her side pocket. She'd put it in her wallet later. She just wanted to get out of there right now as soon as she could. She clasped her hands against her front as she looked up, smiling, at Stacey.

"Is there anything else we can do for you?" she asked, about to start walking away. Paige was already gathering their stuff and putting their glasses away, and provided their transaction was all done, she couldn't wait to get the hell out of that house.

"Uhh, yes. May I please have my key back?" Stacey asked. Emily froze. 'shit! we never found those keys again' she thought. She couldn't reveal she had probably lost them when she got locked outside without revealing she'd been stripped half naked and all the spy-type work that went into getting them back there. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Paige mouth the words "stall!" As she rummaged around the living room looking for the keys.

"Uh yeah! Sure! Immediately! I'll go get them for you right now!" She answered as she walked back into the living room. She looked at Paige, panicking, as she pretended to look around the coffee table.

"Umm, Emily, didn't you have them in your pocket?" Stacey asked. Emily rolled her eyes. If they had been in her pocket she wouldn't have to go through all that stuff! She turned to explain when she heard Paige gasp.

"Emily! They're in your pants!" Paige whisper shouted as she pointed at Emily's back pocket. Sure enough, Emily dug around her back pocket and found the keys there. She handed them back in a daze as she and Paige walked out, and started making their way over to Paige's car.

"They were in my pocket all along." Emily whispered, utterly stunned.

"They were in your pocket the whole time." Paige confirmed as she reached her car, lifting the dangling sleeve of her sweater back up her arm.

"And we could have avoided all of this."

"Yeah. We could have."

It was midnight. Emily's parents were passed out and so were Paige's. Technically it was Christmas now, and the streets were pretty much abandoned, with everyone tucked in their beds, fast asleep.

Paige offered Emily a ride in her car. Even though she lived nearby she was still only wearing a tank top, while it was really cold out. Emily shook her head. She had a lot of pent up stuff. She needed the exercise. She needed to walk or run or scream or something. Paige understood. She locked her car and walked down the street with her. It was so late she figured no one would object to her staying at the Fields house for the night. She threw the front of her sweater over Emily again, cuddling her close as they walked together, step by step.

Emily smiled in the dimly lit streets as their footsteps synchronized again. It was a crazy night but having Paige there made it a lot more bearable. She spun around in the sweater, halfway back to her house, and wrapped her arms around Paige.

"Thank you for being here with me." She breathed out as she leaned in for a kiss.

"Anytime, Em. Just do me one favor." Paige asked, when Emily let go of her lips.

"Anything."

"No more babysitting EVER again."

"Deal."

Their lips crashed together like waves against the shore. The frustration and anger leaving them as they melted into their kiss. They didn't care who saw. It's not like A could do anything with that kiss. They stayed there for a minute more, kissing and hugging, until the cold started really seeping in through Paige's sweater and chilling the girls to the bone.

When they could no longer stay outside, they reconvened on Emily's bed, which Emily kept Paige from leaving until they heard movement beyond the door, from Emily's parents' room. They quickly dressed themselves, making sure they look presentable before joining the rest of the Fields clan in the kitchen for breakfast and some much needed coffee.


	7. 7 The season of Goodwill

"I know it's the season of 'Goodwill to all men' but I'm just not feeling it." Bemoaned Mona from her precarious perch. The city glistening below her feet as she coughed up a little more blood.

Paige sighed dramatically as she loosened her grip a little.

"NO! NO! PLEASE! STOP! I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING!" Ezra cried.

"What do you think? Should we let him off the _hook?"_ Paige smirked down at Ezra's terrified face. A trickle of moisture started dripping up his pants.

"PLEASE! I PROMISE! I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT!" Ezra cried.

"Well, I suppose I'll give you a chance. After all, you know what happens to you if you lie." Paige teased

"I suppose if you do lie, your nose wont stay permanently long since when she drops you off this building your face will become a pancake anyway." Mona sneered.

December 21st, 2010. Rosewood Metropolis. Downtown.

As the night circus of freaks and maniacs came to town, the staunchest protectors of justice and youth and innocence surveyed the rooftops.

Batgirl and Catgirl, friends turned to allies under a common cause; rid Rosewood Metropolis of A's nefarious rule.

For months, the crime syndicate known as "AD incorporated" has been running amok, spreading fear and terror into the citizens' hearts. A fear campaign that started just as president Hastings was elected with the bombing of Central square. The streets of downtown Rosewood have turned into a warzone now.

Paige is combing the streets now with her batnoculars. Something big's supposed to go down tonight and it's up to her and Mona -her begrudging companion- to find out what it is and stop it.

Three streets down she sees a dog pissing on a lamppost. A few streets away from that, a streetwalker is dropped off by her latest customer. Her pimp meets her at the corner and starts roughing her up. Paige wants to spring into action but Mona holds her back. They've got bigger fish to fry tonight. A minute barely passes before they see a white van racing down the backstreets, the police in tow. Mona nods her head and Paige unclips her remote controlled batarang.

She takes a moment to aim, waiting for the van to turn at just the right angle. As she's waiting though, she sees the back doors of the van open, and a hand reaching out to safety. This causes her to pause. As quickly as the hand sticks out, it's pulled back by a pair of stronger, masculine looking arms. There's someone innocent inside that van, she realizes as she clips the batarang back onto her belt.

"What's the holdup?" Mona asks. She stopped paying attention to the van when it became Paige's problem. She kept an eye on the surroundings, looking for signs of traps or A's stooges. What made them distinct from other criminals was the masks. Rubber masks, porcelain masks, etc. You name it, they wore it.

Paige didn't have time to reply. The van was speeding away, fast. So she pulled out her line-launcher and aimed down towards the end of the road, about a dozen feet ahead of where the van was, before shooting. The calculations were hasty but she managed to stick her line to the top of the van. She hastily attached the other end of her line to the water tank on the roof of the building she was in, and bolted to the edge, jumping off the roof, using the line launcher to zip herself to the car before the line completely tensed and snapped the van back.

Within a few seconds she was on the roof of the van. She quickly reached through the open doors in the back and pulled out the first grunt. He was tall but dumb. When she grabbed his arm and pulled, he'd barely had time to register what was happening. He tried reaching for the door but he was too late. He was on the ground before he really knew it, getting trampled by police cars. That's gonna hurt in the morning.

The second guy had wizened up. He shot at the roof of the van but Paige was long gone by then. She had slid down to the side and punched through the driver's side window, knocking him out, then yanked the door open and pulled him out, tossing him on the road for the cops to pick up.

The last one got two feet full of Batgirl in the face as she kicked through the divider into the back. Before he rose up, she was gone, having jumped out the back of the van with the girl, landing safely on the side of the road. He immediately headed for the front of the van, desperate to make his escape, but it was all for naught. The second his ass landed on the driver's seat, the line tensed, jolting the van backwards and sending the final goon flying through the windshield.

"Should've worn a seatbelt." Mona smirked as Paige finished climbing back onto the roof. While exciting, this was more or less a waste of time. Sure, she saved one person, and probably left a couple corpses behind, but this wouldn't help her end AD inc.

"Any news? Any new cases?" Paige wondered as she picked some lint off of her batsuit. She'd have to talk to Bruce about getting these things made out of a material that wasn't quite so... cat-hair and lint absorbent.

"A robbery on fifth, then another a few streets down. The cops got there fast enough so I didn't bother with any of them. How did your little project go?"

"Great. The girl I saved gave me her number." Paige blushed, waving the digits around for emphasis. She never intended to call but it was still very complimentary to receive somebody's number out of the blue like that.

"That's like the fifth time this month, Casanova! You might want to ease up a little!"

"Fine! You save the next damsel in distress!" Paige scoffed as she perched on the edge of the roof, next to Mona.

"Maybe I will... Heads up, two o'clock." Mona signaled, sobering up. A white van just pulled up behind a fancy skyscraper. A few masked goons ran out and into the building through the back, wielding guns and knifes.

The topmost floor was a glitzy restaurant with a gorgeous skylight overlooking the dance floor in between the tables, and tonight, it was booked out for a charity banquet. It was a veritable "Who's who" of some of the most influential people in the city, with important officials, charity donors, celebrities looking for some good publicity and even the brand new Mayor's family being there.

This had to be the big attack that AD incorporated planned for that night.

Paige called her connections. This might just be a job for Batman, and luckily, Bruce Wayne was already there. While he wasn't there as Batman, he would at least be able to offer her some sage advice. She quickly had Caleb scan the room through Bruce's mobile phone. Nearly everybody else was already there. The only guests that hadn't shown up yet were the Mayor's younger daughter and her friends. The cogs in Paige's head started to turn. What if the van she intercepted before held one of them...

If the attack was supposed to take place during the fundraiser then AD's goons should have already been in place. This didn't seem like the plan though, because the party was already well underway. AD didn't leave things to chance like that, so this must have been a plan B. She'd already intercepted a kidnapping today, so maybe AD wasn't targeting the banquet. Maybe AD was targeting the girls.

Paige decided to investigate. She had her contacts look into the girl she saved...

Hanna Marin.

Her parents were both rich -a banker and a businessman- but neither were particularly influential. However they did manage to afford to send her to the same school as the Mayor's daughter, Spencer Hastings. It didn't take a lot for Mona to crack into her facebook account and discover that she was friends with the Mayor's kid, along with a couple of other girls.

There were four of them in the group. Emily Fields, Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings and Aria Montgomery. Caleb crosschecked the guest list with Spencer's class and found that apart from these four, there were a few other guests in her class. Alison DiLaurentis, Noel Kahn and Lucas Gotesman. And surprisingly enough, their friend from the roof, Ezra Fitzgerald, was also a guest at the party tonight.

Paige groaned inwardly. She really couldn't stand that guy. It was so gross lifting him back up after he peed all over himself. She was tempted to just drop him off the side of the building. He had piss running down his face. It was so gross. She'll never get that image out of her head. She really hoped she didn't have to attend the banquet tonight.

All he had to do was give up what info he had but noooo, he tried to play tough, and threaten them. Paige barely held him over that edge for a couple of seconds before he cracked though. Not so big when all the blood is rushing to his head. Nor when the piss is dripping up his waist and stomach and splashing against his jaw.

Paige shook the images out of her head as she tightened up her belt. "Where are the girls now? Spencer and her friends?" She asked Mona.

"They should be on their way to the banquet... minus Hanna. She should be with the police right now."

"Do you suppose the rest are travelling together? Get me the position of Spencer's car."

"Okay, but be careful. Whoever picked up Hanna had to have known she was going to the banquet ahead of time."

"I know. It had to be someone from her class. Keep checking the list for names. We have to eliminate as many suspects as we can."

Paige made her way down to street level where she'd parked her car. It was tricked out like Bruce's but with one distinct difference. Her batmobile didn't just have an invisible masking mode, but also one that made it look like a normal car, so she could access it from wherever she wanted. Bruce built these hubs all over the city. All she had to do is drive in one side, and drive out the other fully transformed. Paige Wayne would drive in through one side and Batgirl would come out the other. It really was a godsend, making it possible for her to switch from her normal self to Batgirl at the drop of a hat, without compromising her secret identity.

It's not like anybody noticed. Everybody at her snooty school was far too wrapped up in their own lives to notice her. Only Alison and her knock-off plastics seemed to register her existence due to her jealousy over Paige getting a better spot in junior varsity soccer. She'd been trying to make her life a living hell ever since, anytime she came across her. So Paige didn't mind leaving school a little early, blowing off the odd class to get to her after-school job a little earlier. Bruce would complain but ultimately there was nothing anybody could really do.

She sped down 7th street, on her way to the banquet. It was just a few streets around one of Bruce's hubs. Due to heavy news coverage of tonight's event, she decided to switch to her civilian outfit. She seamlessly slipped into a hub, her car fluidly contorting around her as her batsuit was dislodged, a formal dress appearing where her batsuit once was. This was another trick of the light. She was really wearing her batsuit underneath, it was just compacted enough to not extend past her sleeves.

She quickly pulled some lipstick out of her glove compartment. She'd have to ask Bruce to add a make-up function or something. She was wasting precious seconds on this stuff. Lucky the car was able to drive itself otherwise she'd never get anything done due to these transformations. She envied Bruce sometimes. He just had to put the suit on. It's not like he had to put a bunch of make-up on when he took it off or anything like that. He could probably get his changes down to a couple of seconds.

She threw the lipstick down haphazardly as she reached the parking lot behind the building. She parked her car, sending a pulse out that wiped out any aerial connections in the building so she could snoop around the van without setting off any alarms, and quickly released a nano bat-drone Mona could use to survey the garage. When she got the all clear she got out of the car and started pacing towards the mysterious white van.

Halfway to the car she heard another car coming into the parking garage and changed direction. Mona continued to maneuver the nano-bat towards the van, extending its metallic prongs towards the driver's side door. With a few careful thrusts and turns she had unlocked it and pulled the door open while Paige made a show of looking through her bag for her ticket. The new car parked a few spots next to Paige and after a moment or two, three girls filed out.

Mona had managed to shut the door behind the nano bat before anyone could see it. Paige exhaled in relief as she saw the door click shut before she heard a bunch of raucous voices behind her.

"God, Aria, why did I let you drive? We're so late now!" Spencer whined.

"It's not my fault there was all that traffic building up! And look, Hanna's not even here yet, so at least we wont be the last ones here." Aria replied defensively.

"Guys, stop fighting. It's still early. And it wasn't entirely Aria's fault." A third voice piped up. Paige felt her face flush. It was _her._ It was Emily.

"You're right. Let's just go and try and make the best of things. I'll text my mom to let her know we've arrived. One of you can text Hanna. Tell her to come right through and meet us upstairs."

Paige was -almost frantically- pressing the elevator call button by the time they walked up to her. None of them really acknowledged her presence. Mona's drone had been rummaging through the van for quite some time and Paige was standing by her phone, expecting her to text her whatever it is she may have found when suddenly she heard the elevator ding. She walked in awkwardly as the other three girls followed her, none of them really looking around or at her, mostly staring at their mobile screens.

The doors were about to close when a voice called out "Wait! Stop! Wait for me!"

Paige reached over and pressed the 'stop' button on the elevator as Emily reached out her hands, barring the door from closing. The censors registered her movement just in time before the doors shut and the disembodied voice thanked them all from afar, until she came nearer and revealed herself to be Hanna Marin. Paige's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. She should've been in hospital or talking to the cops. What happened?

"You guys will never believe the night I've had!" She puffed as she tried to catch her breath back.

"What happened, Han?" Aria asked, putting a meek hand on Hanna's shoulder, taking in her disheveled appearance. The girl looked like she'd been through the ringer.

"I was kidnapped! I was snatched up in some van. These two dudes just up and grabbed me when I was on my way to my car, and this third one drove us off. I had no idea where we were going!"

Sounds of shock and surprise filled the elevator as Hanna continued.

"Luckily this handsome stud helped me out though. This batguy. Or was it a batgirl? Doesn't matter, they were a total hottie. I even gave them my number. Hope they'll call."

"Seriously?" Spencer called out incredulously. "You get kidnapped and you're still thinking about getting boned? Incredible!"

"Anyway, I talked to the cops and they agreed to let me off for the night to get over my 'shock', as long as I came in first thing tomorrow to testify. Do you think they'll have those little pigs in the blanket at this thing here tonight? Cause I'm starving!" Hanna salivated. "Say... who's the new girl?" She asked, pointing over at Paige as she finished her rant. The elevator slowly slid up past the fifth floor as Mona continued to look for clues.

"N-nobody!" Paige stuttered. "I was just taking the same elevator as everyone else." She explained, trying not to make eye contact with Hanna.

"Something about you looks really familiar though..." Hanna narrowed her eyes as she took Paige in.

"We go to the same school." Paige replied, shying away from Hanna's scrutinizing gaze.

"Were you that girl that flashed everyone at last year's Easter parade?"

"No, that was Wendy." Spencer corrected her.

"Were you the girl that got fisted in the janitor's closet?"

"NO!" Paige insisted. "That wasn't even a student!"

"Alright, I got it! You're-" Hanna was suddenly cut off when the elevator abruptly stopped on the twelfth floor, and suddenly everyone jerked forward.

"What gives?" Hanna asked, fiddling with the elevator buttons. She tried pressing everything before Spencer managed to get to her feet and brush her off.

Spencer looked through the buttons for an emergency number but she couldn't focus well enough to find it in her anxious state. Luckilly the door began to open and the girls sighed a sigh of relief until they noticed the people that stood behind it. Hanna's mouth gaped open. Spencer's brow furrowed and Aria and Emily both tensed. Paige was about to take one defensive step forward when she saw Emily brush past her and put some distance between the rest of the girls and A's masked goons.

"I don't suppose you guys are here for the party." Hanna asked before the goons threw a bottle of knock-out gas in the elevator and shut the doors.

Paige didn't get a chance to react before the gas took hold. She barely had time to press the silent alarm in her belt buckle. Before she knew it she was awake in her room in Wayne manor.

"You did good out there last night." Bruce greeted her when she woke up.

"The girls?"

"They're fine. Just sleeping."

"What happened?"

"I received your alarm signal and left the party. Used the GPS to track you down. You were all in the back of a truck. I guess they picked you all up so there wouldn't be any witnesses left. Followed them to their lair and got you all out in time."

"What did they want? Why kidnap the Mayor's daughter?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm going to look into it. In the meantime, I'll need you to keep an eye on her and her friends at school. Can you handle that?"

"Alright."

They didn't run in the same cliques but she'd have to find a work-around for that. After last night's events, there was no way she was letting the girl out of her sight. It's clear A wanted her. They just needed to find out why.


	8. 8 Never saw a candy cane I didn't want

**AN/This chapter is PWP. I have the unedited version up on AO3. This is the heavily censored version.**

Christmas night at the Fields house. The stockings were hung, and the presents were wrapped and waiting under the tree. Pam and Wayne excused themselves and kissed Emily goodnight as Paige finished off the last of her eggnog. The kids passed out on the couch, waiting for Santa to arrive and Emily's spot on the couch was stolen by the dog the moment she got up to fetch the throw blanket so she'd been sitting on the floor between Paige's legs, enjoying a gentle shoulder rub.

Christmas was amazing. Everything Emily had ever hoped. Well... almost everything. Paige would lean in to grab her mug off the table every now and then, and the movement would cause some of her breath to tickle the hairs on the back of Emily's neck. There was hardly any contact but the fact that it was Paige breathing down her back reminded Emily of certain other positions they've been in before where she's had Paige breathing down her back... erotic positions that made her blood rush to her cheeks.

Paige absentmindedly braided her hair as Emily tried to hide her blushing from her family. When her parents kissed her goodnight she was sure she'd been seen but neither of them kicked up a fuss about it so she figured maybe she got away with it until a few moments passed and Paige leaned in and started whispering in her ear.

"Your cheeks are the color of your Christmas sweater."

Emily's blush grew as she buried her face in her hands.

"Have some self control! Your parents are upstairs and the kids are right here!" Paige whispered jokingly as she wrapped her arms around her wife, her fingers searching her sides for her ticklish spots. Emily jumped before she found them, fully aware that if she did she'd have her howling with laughter, and waking up the kids.

"Upstairs! Now!" She ordered before Paige's ruckus wound up ruining their night.

Paige gave her a proper salute (she'd looked them up early on in their relationship, terrified of offending her father) before marching in an exaggerated way towards the stairs. Emily stifled a laugh at her goofy antics as she checked on the kids one last time before following her wife up to her childhood room.

Paige was setting up the bed when she'd found her. She snuck up behind her and wrapped her arms around her thighs, pressing against her from the back. Paige's gasp was quiet enough, but the uninhibited moan she let out when Emily started kissing her neck was loud enough to be heard outside the room. Emily kicked herself for leaving the door open, and hoped her parents hadn't heard a sound as she backtracked to the door and quietly shut it while Paige finished preparing their bed.

Paige turned as Emily switched the light off. The only light in the room came from the bedside lamp and the street-lights but it was enough for Emily to see Paige inquisitively raising her eyebrow. Emily pressed a finger to her lips, shushing Paige as she sauntered over to her, seductively. A hand on Paige's shoulder pressing down, prompted her to flop down on the bed as she stared, entranced, at the only woman she'd ever want.

Emily took her phone out of her pants and with a few touches and gestures she'd put on her pre-prepared Christmas spotify playlist. The soothing notes of "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas" filled the room, helping mask their voices as Emily leaned in to capture those irresistible lips.

She planned this a long time ago, and didn't want to ditch her plans but god, Paige was just so beautiful, and it had been so long since they last kissed. It felt like forever since she last felt her arms wrap around her and she missed her so much. With work and kids and other obligations and responsibilities taking up so much of their time, she'd developed a real thirst for her wife.

Paige felt exactly the same way. While she was looking forward to getting underneath her, she could hardly wait to wrap Emily in her arms and just hold her, missing sex almost as much as she missed intimacy.

They kissed slowly for a while, just enjoying the feeling before the lack of oxygen started to get to them and they had to pull apart. They smirked at each other like kids sneaking around at a sleepover after they were told to behave, and Paige pulled Emily tighter, leaning in for another kiss.

As much as she enjoyed this, the seduction she had planned kept nagging Emily until she pulled away with a sigh, and got back up to her feet, gesturing at Paige to stay seated before she made her way over to the bag she'd packed and started rummaging through it. Once she was sure she had what she wanted, she set it all up on her desk, and wordlessly started to undress.

She pulled her sweater off as she swayed her hips, Paige giggling behind her as she realized what was going on. Her teasing was punished with a stern look as Emily threw her sweater on the floor.

The jeans were the next to go. Emily'd prepared for this earlier in the day. Paige was surprised to see the top of the g-string, and Emily's smooth, round cheeks as the pants started to slip lower, and she had to clench her fists and lick her lips to keep from reaching out and trying to take some control.

It was Emily's turn to smirk when Paige let out a gulp as she threw her chemise on. She was facing away so she couldn't see her face, but Paige was sure Emily must have had one of those dastardly smirks on her face.

Paige smiled when she saw Emily pop on what she assumed was her last article; a Santa hat. Anyone else would have rolled their eyes when she turned and showed off her Miss Santa, babydoll chemise but Paige was enthralled. She swallowed once so she wouldn't drool as Emily started to glide towards her and her full costume came into view and Paige realize what she wore was not a G-string.

Emily swayed her hips as she sashayed towards Paige with a sneaky glimmer in her eye. She lifted one knee onto the bed, and then the other, on either side of Paige, until she was kneeling over her crotch, straddling her and holding onto her shoulders for suport.

"Would you like a lick of my lollipop?" She whispered innocently up at her wife, challenging her by cocking up her eyebrow. 'Two can play at this game' Paige thought before she replied.

"I never saw a candy cane I didn't want to suck."

Emily's mouth suddenly felt dry. She tried to lick her lips when she felt Paige's hands slide up her thighs. Suddenly she was on fire, the velvety lingerie suffocating her. It had to come off. Her eyes half lidded she tried to find the words to reply but her attempt went out the window when she felt strong hands slide further up the sides of her thighs. She started to quiver as she felt Paige cup her cheeks and squeeze, every romantic idea thrown out the window as she plunged her tongue into Paige's mouth.

The morning found Paige and Emily in an exhausted heap on Emily's old single bed, a wet patch on one side, Emily inside Paige. It was one of the best Christmases they'd ever had.


	9. 9 It smells like forest in here

It was a stormy night. It wasn't supposed to be stormy in Winter, it was supposed to be snowy! This put Hanna's plans completely off track. She was supposed to be cuddled up in bed, watching Christmas movies with her boxer while it snowed outside, not stuck in a stupid road in the middle of stinking nowhere on her way home from College.

She huffed as she tried to call road services again. The reception out here was nonexistent but she still tried every other minute. It was all in vain though, and what's worse, it was only causing her battery to run out quicker. A more practical person might have tried to reserve their battery power, for when they actually had some signal bars, but Hanna tended to throw caution to the wind. She was a city girl. She didn't have time to be careful.

She puffed out an exasperated breath as her phone failed to dial once again. This was like, the twentieth time this hour! She was going to miss dinner! Her mom made the best pot roast...

Haphazardly chucking the phone aside, she tried switching the engine on again but was met with the same lackluster mechanical groaning she heard the last three times. Her engine was stuffed. She couldn't even turn the hazard lights on to signal for help. Realizing she'd be stuck in this car -maybe even overnight- Hanna took off her seatbelt and slipped into the back of the car.

She didn't have a blanket or a pillow, just a couple of bags filled with clothes and presents and other stuff. She grabbed a knapsack with essentials and pulled out a towel and a stack of clothes. She scrunched the clothes up into a ball and lifted her head, shoving the make-shift pillow under it, before throwing the towel over herself like a blanket. It was minimal protection from the cold but it was enough to keep Hanna warm in her steamed up state.

Sleep however was hard to come by. She tried turning towards the back of the car, and she tried lying on her back, but she couldn't get comfortable no matter what she did so she wound up sitting up, grabbing her makeshift pillow and trying to lie down in the driver's seat, reclined.

Out of the corner of her eye she could register her phone's silhouette. She couldn't sleep without trying one more time, so she restlessly sat up again and reached for the mobile phone.

The battery was low -nearly 5%- and Hanna knew there was like, zero chance of her getting through to anyone but she tried to make the call anyway. She even managed to get a ring. But as soon as she picked up the network she dropped it back up, almost winding in tears in the process.

She was about to give in and start crying those tears when she noticed the last car that passed her, reverse.

The driver slowly slid their car in front of Hanna's and got out. They'd be drenched in rain and if they hadn't been wearing a trenchcoat their clothes would be see-through at the moment. Hanna stared, slightly unnerved as the person slowly made their way towards her car, sliding up to the driver's side window, almost like a dementor would glide over toward their victim. Part of her wanted to run and another, much saner part, reminded her that Dementors weren't real, and even if they were, she was a muggle, and she wouldn't be able to see those bastards anyway.

The seconds ticked by as the figure awkwardly stared in through the window. The unlit interior of the car didn't give much away and all Hanna had to do for this moment to pass without incident was stay silent and still.

Slowly, the figure that emerged from the car seemed to lose interest. It started moving again, and Hanna allowed herself to breathe, until by fate, her phone picked up one bar, and a text message came through, lighting up the screen. The light was dim, and Hanna immediately covered her phone with her hand, but it was too late. The figure caught a glimpse of the stroke of light, and their interest was piqued again.

They slid back up to the driver's side door, and this time, started to tap on the window. Hanna gulped. She had no option but to respond. Her mother didn't raise an animal! Worst case scenario, they would put "cordial to the end" on her obituary. She swallowed once before reaching over and sliding the window down a notch.

"Are you alright in there? Do you need some assistance?"

It was a girl! Hanna thanked her lucky stars as she nearly wept for joy. Maybe she wouldn't die tonight.

"HI!" she beamed "My stupid car is stuck, and it wont start, it just keeps making this crappy noise, like 'chug chug chugga' and not starting up."

The girl scratched her chin for a moment before she replied.

"Have you checked the gas and stuff?"

"I filled up before I left the last station. My tank is almost full!"

"It doesn't seem like it's overheating" The girl commented as she appraised the hood of the car. Nothing indicated heating issues so she looked back at the blonde in the car. "Can I try starting it for you?"

Hanna looked the girl up and down. It was still pretty dark but she had an honest face, and honestly, it's not like she could steal her broken down car so she nodded her head and slipped into the passenger seat. The girl slipped into the driver's seat and felt around in the dark for the ignition. She tried to start it but it wouldn't even crank. She tried fiddling with the lights but none of them came on, and even tried testing the radio and other systems, to no avail.

"I think your battery is dead." She sighed.

"What? No! I- Huh? How can it die? No one 'killed' it!" Hanna asked, confused.

"Batteries lose their ability to hold charge over time. I could try to juice it up for you but I left my jumper cables at home. Do you maybe have a set?"

"I just brought my clothes... and makeup... and beauty products. I'm not a savage. Also a hairdryer, would that help? Maybe we could dry the engine. Maybe it got wet, and that's the problem."

The girl smiled. She remembered a time when she was roughly this clueless about cars. "That wouldn't help, I'm afraid."

"So what do I do now?"

"Have you tried calling for a tow truck?"

"I would but my phone battery is pretty much dead."

"Story of your life, huh?" The stranger joked. "Where were you headed anyway?"

"Rosewood, PA. My boyfriend's expecting me. He's jacked, and huge, and he plays football." she said, hoping to deter the girl from harvesting her organs.

"Rosewood eh? That's kind of funny, I was headed that way myself. It's where my parents live and I was heading home for Christmas."

"This is the part where you offer me a ride and I wake up in a bathtub filled with ice, missing a kidney."

"Oh no. For starters, there's only a shower in my apartment" the stranger continued to jest "and for seconds, I'm not after anybody's kidneys."

"What are you after then?"

"Their hearts." She smirked, wiggling her eyebrow suggestively. This put Hanna slightly at ease. Maybe this stranger was just a crazy goofball. The harmless kind. Like that dude from Goonies who scared the crap out of those kids but was tamed when one of them showed him a little affection and gave him a baby Ruth. She searched her pockets but all she found were some mints. She hoped these would suffice, if need be.

"So do you want a ride to town? Or maybe the closest drive-in or something? You could try phoning for car repairs, or a taxi, if you really can't stand the sight of me so much."

"Alright. I'd love a lift to town."

"Okay."

"My name's Hanna, by the way. What's yours?"

"It's Paige. Paige McCullers."

"I'm Hanna Marin."

"Cool. Welcome to my car, Hanna Marin." She said as she slipped out of Hanna's car, and found her way to her own in the dark. Hanna followed suit, locking her car doors on her way out, and slipping into the passenger's side of Paige's car.

"It smells like forest in here." She commented, the moment she was inside.

"It's this pine air freshener." Paige explained, pointing at the little tree dangling from her rear-view mirror. "I figured it'd help me get in the festive season."

"Did it work?"

"OH THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL-"

"OK! I believe you!" Hanna laughed.

"So where exactly am I taking you?" Paige asked as she started her car. Hanna thanked the gods when she heard the car start. Imagine being stuck out here with this random stranger...no, acquaintance?

"I'll guide you when we're closer to it." Hanna held her cards close to her chest.

"Well did you have something to eat, cause I was thinking of stopping on the way. My family's out of town and I was going to stay at my Aunt's cabin in the woods tonight, and grab dinner on the way."

The gurgling from Hanna's stomach forced her to answer truthfully.

"No. Honestly, I'm pretty hungry."

"I think I saw a sign for a diner, would you mind if we stopped there on the way?"

"Are you kidding? Josie's diner? I would mind if we DIDN'T stop on the way!"

Paige laughed at that, and Hanna noticed, for the first time, that she was pretty. Like, really pretty. Not magazine pretty, with layers of cosmetics and hours of hairdressing and all these products and stuff but real pretty. Like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, or a snowflake, or chocolate chip cookie. Really beautiful. She found herself unable to look away.

They parked the car just as the rain started to pick up, and half sprinted to Josie's. Hanna was more of a regular, but Paige was no pushover either. They ordered hearty meals and sat side by side in a booth, getting acquainted while they waited for their food to arrive, and sipped on their coffees.

"You went to Rosewood High? How come I never met you?"

"I wasn't part of the social scene back then. I mostly stayed home and trained."

"Trained? Why?"

"I... I dunno. I wanted to be the best, and I thought training would do that for me. I figured if I was the best swimmer then that's what people would focus on, rather than the other thing..."

"What other thing?"

"I'm gay."

"Oh."

A short silence fell. Hanna didn't know why but she sort of blushed at Paige's words. Something within her was stirred and she felt blood rush to one of her more delicate areas. A vision of Paige flashed in her mind, where she was pushing her against a wall, making out with her, her hands tangled in Paige's hair as she picked her up and slammed her against the wall, squeezing her ass and grinding into her. She blinked and the image was gone, but definitely not forgotten.

"So are you like, a bottom, or a top?" Hanna asked, assuming this was normal conversation. Paige just stared, dumbfounded. She didn't know how to respond. However through a stroke of luck, the waitress arrived and started serving them, breaking the awkwardness of the moment. She smiled at Paige as she walked away and Hanna smirked, knowingly up at her.

"She was TOTALLY checking you out."

"No, she wasn't" Paige blushed.

"Yes she was! Are you gonna give her your number?"

"NO!"

"Why? Aren't you single?"

"What makes you think I don't have a girl? Do I have a sign on my back that says 'single'?"

"No, but you might as well have one that says desperate. I saw the way you blushed when she asked for your order."

"Ouch! What about you? You single and desperate too, or am I the only loser at this table?"

"Oh, no. I've got a boyfriend." Hanna answered, curtly. Paige realized she struck a nerve.

"I'm not gonna harass you if you're single. I'm not asking because I want to bang or anything like that. I'm just curious."

"I do have a boyfriend, it's just complicated." Hanna answered back.

"Ah, I get it. I've been there before."

"I mean, I love him, I'm just not sure I'm in love with him."

"How long have you been together?"

"Since High School. That's what makes this so hard."

"Have you dated anyone else? Before him, maybe?"

"I uhh. I didn't really date around. There were some things I had to deal with..." Hanna trailed off, reminiscing. Paige understood completely. She too had some 'stuff' to deal with when she was young, and to top it off, High School dating pools are pretty shallow for girls that favor the breast-stroke.

"My last girlfriend ditched me a few weeks into our relationship. She had to travel back to Texas and just didn't want to do the long distance thing. I mean, we only dated for about a month so I don't blame her. That was a couple of weeks ago.."

"Ouch. Was she hot?"

"She was pretty but shallow." Paige explained. "She spent more time getting ready than actually hanging out whenever we went out. She'd order something like a salad and a water, because she'd rather watch her weight than hit the gym, and she was constantly reading these gossip magazines and talking about celebrities as if she knew them, when she couldn't live further apart from them unless she moved to Taiwan."

Hanna parsed her lips guiltily. She might as well have described her. As her salad hit the table, she reached for the salt, and Paige, with a glint in her eye, continued.

"Plus she always poured salt into her salad. Like, who does that? Ugh. It's already got cheese!"

Hanna narrowed her eyes as she realized Paige was making fun of her. 'This means war' she thought, as she started her own tease.

"Yeah, my ex was pretty crummy too. Spent more time at the gym than with me, so he could eat burgers and other unhealthy stuff whenever we went out. Listened to country music all through our car rides and never once gave me an orgasm."

Paige spat out her chip. "HEY!" She began "This is my cheat day! And besides, I don't ALWAYS listen to country music, I just messed up my radio channels when I cleaned my air-conditioning filter out. ANd lastly, I have given PLENTY of orgasms out in my time."

"Why are we even doing this?" Hanna giggled at Paige.

"The assumption game is kind of a fun icebreaker. Provided you don't go too far, like you just did. No orgasms? Really?"

"I don't talk about all celebrities like i know them! Just the ones I've met!" Hanna laughed.

"Well let's agree to call this a truce and get back to our food. This burger is droolworthy and I don't want it to get cold."

"Agreed. As soon as you tell me what you really think of me."

"You seem... nice. Yeah, you definitely look like you check every mirror you find, but you don't seem particularly mean or spiteful."

"And you can tell all that from a car ride?"

"No, I just get a good vibe from you. You look like someone I could hang with and have some fun with, in the non-biblical sense."

"You seem pretty cool yourself Paige McNugget."

"McCullers. Though I might just have to change it to McNugget now, it has a better ring to it."

"You should. It sounds absolutely delightful. And delicious."

"A winning combination." Paige smiled as she dug into her food.

They bantered like friends all the way to Hanna's house. By the end of the night they really felt like old friends. When Hanna waved Paige goodbye from her window (She promised to wait until she got inside, and Hanna hopped over the living room couch to wave at Paige through the big window), she felt her heart swell with warmth. It reminded her of when she was young and her dog would come greet her at the door. It left a smile on her face that persisted until she got to her own phone.

Hanna tried calling for a tow the next morning but she couldn't find her phone. She asked her mom if she could prank call her so she could follow the sounds of her ringtone but there was no sound. As Hanna cursed herself, believing she left it on 'silent', her mom heard a strange voice through her mobile phone's receiver.

"Hello? Is this Hanna? You left your phone in my car." said the voice.

A great big lightbulb over Hanna's head, she dashed over and swiped the phone out of her mom's hand.

"PAIGE! Tell me you have my phone!" She cried.

"I've got it. And I'm on my way. I have a friend who can maybe help with your car, and I'm bringing him as well."

"You really don't have to do that!"

"I know, but I figured it's the least I could do, since you wanted to see me so much you left your phone in my car so you could have a pretense to call me up."

"Oh yeah, you got me." Hanna laughed. Their teasing banter continuing until Paige parked outside.

"Hubba, Hubba!" Hanna smirked as Paige and Toby, her friend, showed up at her front door. Paige wore a tank top with a plaid shirt and a pair of jeans, while her friend Toby, a perfectly chiseled young man of 23, wore a pair of paint stained jeans and a white t-shirt that clung to his skin like it would burst at the slightest pressure, exposing the finely carved muscles that dwelled underneath.

"You ready, Han?" Paige asked, with a familiarity that didn't feel strange coming from the girl's lips. Hanna nodded as she pulled a jacket off the coathanger by the door, letting it shut behind her as she followed Paige to her car.

It was muggy but not cold. The rain had stopped sometime the night before and all it left behind was mud and storm clouds. While the latter seemed to threaten cataclysmic rainfall, the former had slowly started to dissipate throughout the day. The greatest challenge -apart from the light being obscured by the clouds- was the humidity.

Paige and Toby got to work on Hanna's car. The jumper cables were pulled out and attached while Hanna leaned against the side of Paige's car.

The labor got more intensive as Toby and Paige checked this and that. Before long, Paige wrapped her plaid shirt around her waist, like a belt, and Toby peeled off his shirt, hanging it off the hood of Hanna's car. Hanna pretended to yawn as she checked them both out. Toby was built like a steel shit-house but Paige wasn't bad as well. The way the tank clung to her waist suggested she may have had a six-pack of her own to boast about, and her upper arms definitely didn't flop about. Hanna kind of wanted to get a feel of those arms.

At last, Toby and Paige managed to get Hanna's car started.

"It wont get you very far but it'll be enough to get to the closest garage. Your engine is fine but your battery is a goner. You're gonna have to buy a new one. Ask for Craig, at this place around that owl bar. He'll give you a fair deal. And we'll drive along with you in case anything happens to you on the way."

"Seriously, I couldn't thank you guys enough for this." Hanna smiled. Toby gave Paige a nudge with his shoulder, both of them wearing these big goofy smiles as they started to blush. They denied that it was a big deal as Hanna reached in and gave them both a hug, using it as an excuse to steal a feel of Paige's upper arms.

The drive to the garage was uneventful. Craig said he had to order the part, which may take a while. In a couple of hours, he'd sent her a replacement car, but in the meantime, Paige offered Hanna a lift.

That's twice in 24 hours that Paige took Hanna home. Hanna thought it was a new record. Her boyfriend, Sean, was a pretty busy guy, and she'd only see him once a week at the most. She smiled as she walked into her house, replacing her jacket on the coathanger. This Paige gal was pretty nice. She made a mental note to call her again when she had a car, and pick her up for a girl's night. As she felt her pocket for her phone it suddenly dawned on her that she never took it off Paige.

As soon as she realized that she was phoneless, she heard a knock on the door. Could it be, Paige? She ran over and answered it and sure enough, it had been her. She reached over and gave her a massive hug when she explained she returned to give her her phone back. Her phone back, Hanna's first action was to program Paige's number in. Paige took her own phone out and added Hanna as a contact when she pranked her, smiling when she noticed her nickname on Hanna's phone was "the Lifesaver".

She hugged her one last time and let her go on her way. Walking into her house she started going through her mail. Some of her old friends were coming home for the Holidays after all; Emily and Spencer.

She hasn't seen either of them for a while, but from what she knew, both were single, and at least one was 'full gay', according to Spencer. She smiled as she planned on spending her Christmas break playing lesbian matchmaker. She figured there'd be two potential outcomes of all this. Either Spencer would come out as bi, or Emily would have a new girlfriend.

It'd been forever since she broke up with that pot-head, Maya. She deserved someone as hot as Paige. But then again, so did Spencer. She hadn't seen action since she broke up with that creepy old guy, Wren. And she was definitely bi, since at school she did field hockey, and everyone knows what that means. Spencer was pretty abrasive though, but in all fairness, Paige looked like she could handle that sort of thing.

Spencer was smart, but Emily was insanely hot, and Hanna had no idea who Paige would ever pick, since she didn't really spend enough time with her to gauge her interests. Either way, she got a new friend, and in a way, she'd get to repay Paige for her help and kindness so this was a win win situation, Hanna reasoned, as she hovered over the 'send' button.

But then again... Hanna DID like the way Paige smelled, and they got along better than she had with Shawn in pretty much her entire lifetime. But, no, this was just plain greedy. She should do a good deed this Christmas and pass Paige on to one of her friends. But her finger just refused to hit that send button though. Maybe she'd see this thing through to the end. See where their chemistry would end. She wasn't gay, she was pretty sure of that, but who knows, maybe she was bisexual. She liked that Toby guy, but she also kind of fancied Paige. Images of a menage a trois tryst floated through the air.

Maybe Hanna wasn't as straight as she thought she was... She decided to test things out. She deleted the invitations she was going to send her friends, and typed a different one out to the girl who saved her ass the night before.


	10. 10 Your hands are like ice

Paige surprises Emily with a Christmas tree on their first year of College together. She gets locked out however and Emily has to come to her rescue. When she realizes she was trying to surprise her she gets overwhelmed.

Christmas in California is nothing like Christmas is back in Rosewood. With a heavy workload, Emily wasn't able to go back home this year, no matter how much she wished she could, and since Paige's family moved West during Senior Year of High School, they were more than happy to welcome Emily into their house for the holidays. With work and school though, she really could not afford to take the time off in order to celebrate. Especially not if she wanted to have something to give to Paige and her friends these holidays.

Not one to ruin everybody else's good time, and even though she knew she'd miss her like crazy, Emily convinced Paige to spend the holidays with her mom and dad. She'd be working Christmas day anyway, and after that she had some reading to get through, so she'd be no fun anyway. Paige refused to go but Emily gave her no choice. She texted her parents and told them to expect Paige. With a disappointed frown and a shake of her hands, Paige sullenly walked off to pack her bags.

She really hated doing this. She knew how shitty and toxic it was but the last thing she wanted was for Paige to be stuck in their crummy apartment by herself all through Christmas while she worked. She told herself this was the right thing to do. That this was what they both needed; time with family and time to catch up on work. She would've managed to convince herself this was the right thing, had it not been for the betrayed look in her girlfriend's eyes. With a heavy heart they hugged and Paige stalked off into the chilly afternoon.

There is no snow in California. It feels surreal spending Christmas there when you are used to at least six inches of snowfall this time of year. Emily smiled as she remembered the way Hanna slipped and fell on her butt last Christmas while helping her hang some lights in her front yard. Caleb tried to help her up but she just ended up dragging him down. He yelped and bolted inside to warm up in the kitchen with one of the coffees her mom prepared for them. Hanna laughed and joined him and it fell down to Paige and Emily to hang the last of the lights before joining everyone inside.

Emily smiled at the memory as she served a different cup of coffee to some patron. The queue was longer than usual from all the people needing a pick-me-up during last minute shopping trips. She was due to finish early so she could pick up the morning shift since she was staying back for Christmas. She was even given a set of keys earlier that day so she could open the shop, that way her boss could spend some more time with his wife and kids this Christmas. She was thanked about a dozen times and promised a box of chocolates as a thank-you.

She put on her 'business smile' as she took another order. A caramel mocha to go. Then an Espresso with three sugars. A cappuchino. Caramel Macchiato. A green tea latte. Frapuccino... Moccha. Americano... Flat white. She figured she brewed one of every coffee on the menu that night.

She finally finished sometime after six. She was suppoed to finish at seven but her boss gave her an hour off. After all, she was doing him a HUGE solid by coming in to open the next morning and he really wanted to reciprocate in some way. Since she had loads to study, he let her take off early with a couple croissants and as many drinks as her heart desired. She knew she was spending the night cramming so she took full advantage of his offer and brought a full tray of coffees home with her.

Emily figured with the extra hour and coffee, she might be able to get a lot done. She hoped she would be able to pull off all her reading by tomorrow. Maybe she'd pull an all-nighter. She promised herself that if she got her work done, she'd drive out to Paige's parents house and spend Christmas night at the McCullers house with everyone. At least that was the plan until she walked up the stairs of her apartment building and saw that her front door was open.

A? Mona? Alison? Some other psycho from the past, here to make her life a living hell all over again?

Slowly and carefully she put her food containers down beside the door, and reached in her pocket for her keys. Sliding a few of the longer and sharper looking keys between her knuckles, holding them tight with her fingers, she lunged towards the door, screaming bloody murder.

"AAAAAH!" Cried Paige from inside.

"Paige? What are you doing here?" Emily gaped, dumbfounded.

"I thought I'd come over and set up a little surprise. I know you don't want me around, you've made that very clear, but I just wanted to do some work around the house and help out." Paige explained, looking guiltilly up at Emily. It was then that Emily noticed the state of their place. The couch she had slept on was neat and tidy, and her work sat in neat piles on the coffee table. There was a Christmas banner hanging off the curtain-rod, and finally, a modestly sized tree, wedged in the corner of the living room, with a couple of gifts underneath, some lights and a few dozen ornaments.

It wasn't the Christmas spread Emily was accustomed to but it meant so much to her that Paige would go through all that trouble to try and make her feel more at home during these trying days that she couldn't help but tear up a little bit. She was smiling from ear to ear, but she couldn't stop the involuntary crying. Paige briskly walked over to her and enveloped her in a hug, kissing her cheeks and consoling her, apologizing for whatever it is that she may have done that upset her, which in turn made Emily laugh-cry, until a snort came out.

"I'm not crying because I'm sad, Paige, I'm crying because I'm happy!" She corrected her, pulling back from the embrace, but holding onto her hands, unwilling to completely break contact with her.

"I will never forget this, Paige. Thank you so much!" She smiled as she pulled her in for another hug. They stayed like that for a moment, with Emily's hands wrapped around Paige's neck and Paige's arms wrapped around her back, until it occured to Emily to ask the question that's been nagging her since she first held Paige's hands.

"Your hands are like ice! Why are your hands so cold?" She wondered, looking around the place.

"Ah, that. Well, you know how we live in California, and there's no snow or anything like that?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I thought, if we can't GO to the snow, then let's BRING the snow to us! And I tried to make some snowballs. But I messed up and kind of wound up just making round ice."

"Oh no!" Emily laughed. "You're not gonna pelt me with dry ice now, are you?" She joked.

"No, I wouldn't want to mark that pretty face of yours... Maybe some paper-balls instead." She said, after pretending to think for a while.

"Oh, you are not gonna hit me with paper-balls. Not before I hit you, that is!"

Paige laughed until she noticed that twinkle in Emily's eyes.

"Oh no, no, no!" She cried as she jumped behind the kitchen counter, taking cover. Emily grabbed some scrap A4 paper off the coffee table and rolled it into a ball as Paige reached into the freezer and scraped some of the frost off of the side of it. She tried molding it into a ball but it was not enough and her hands were far too warm by now, melting the ball as they cradled it. By the time Emily ran around the side of the kitchen isle, the ball had melted and when Emily pelted her with her paper balls, the only thing Paige could throw back was a sprinkle of water.

She laughed as she picked Emily's paper balls off the floor and aimed a couple of them right back at her as she dashed back into the living room, jumping over the back of the couch, and landing on her back square in the middle of the sofa. Paige ran up and dropped the pile of paper she hauled over right on Emily's head as she leaped over the side, landing on top of her while they giggled. Emily smiled up at Paige, pulling her in for a kiss as she wondered how the hell she got lucky enough to end up like this.


	11. 11 A visit from the ghost of Christmas p

Beacon Hills was strange this time of year. None of that spirit of 'charity' and 'goodwill towards men' made its way over from the surrounding towns. It was all 'work, work, work'. Frenzied messes running around the halls, dashing from class to class, while the adults paced languidly around the campus, fueling themselves with caffeine and preparing for yet another marking session. It was as busy as ever and Alison actually started to miss her hometown for a moment or two.

Christmas was a family affair, and while her family was distant, they always came together for the big things. Being her daddy's little girl meant she was spoiled from an early age, and every Christmas something spectacular and expensive waited for her under the tree. She cursed her luck that her father would be unable to spend Christmas with her this year. Maybe he'd still send something in the mail though. Diamond earrings perhaps, or a new iphone.

She drawled along, thinking about whatever marvelous gifts she would be bestowed during the Christmas season when she absent-mindedly ran into Mona.

Ugh.

"Sorry about that." She apologised, hoping it would get the other woman off her back quicker if she just relented and played nice from the beginning.

"Oh, it's no bother. I suppose you're just hopping along, thinking about spending Christmas with your family. How ARE the girls getting along?" Mona asked, digging the knife in a little. Alison hadn't even thought to call and ask about them since she started her work here.

"They're fine!" She insisted. After all, if anything drastic happened she would've been kept informed... probably.

"I bet you miss them like crazy. You probably can't wait to see them for Christmas. Have you finished wrapping your presents?" She smirked.

Alison narrowed her eyes. It's not like she was a deadbeat, it's just that presents were always something Emily took care of for all of them. She'd send the kids off with her mom and go shopping, and have everything wrapped up and dinner on the table by the time Alison got home from her massage. She was used to pampering herself, and since Pam didn't mind watching the kids, Alison would take the day off to treat herself. Sure it bothered Emily, but Alison didn't see the point in both of them having a lousy shopping day, buying stupid toys when she could be relaxing instead.

Alison scoffed. "Of course I've taken care of gifts." She lied.

"Well if you're all packed and ready, why don't I drop them off at the post office for you? You must be pretty busy around now." Mona offered, politely. Alison screamed internally.

"Actually, I was going to drop them off myself."

"But I thought you were staying on Campus this Christmas..."

"Yeah, I am, I'm just... going to stop by later on and I thought I'd bring everything with me." she bluffed. She hadn't bought so much as a gift card for anybody but herself. Every present in her house was addressed to and from herself.

"Oh. Well, I'm sure they'll love having you around. Even if they have to wait to get their presents." Mona smiled as she began to walk away. "Maybe I'll see you when I visit Rosewood later on next year too!" She said before turning and walking away.

Blast it. Now she'd really have to go through with it in case Mona opens her big fat mouth and gets everybody's hopes up. She was really hoping to just stay home and chill these holidays. Maybe sift through those shitty Christmas romance movies that filter through Netflix this time of year. But now she had to go down to the stupid stores and buy some crap for the brats and her ball-busting-ex and just ugh. Why did she have to run into Mona today?

She may have signed up to stay at school around Christmas for the extra pay -and the free amenities- but she still had a weekend off before that. With transit being overbooked, she'd have to take a bus or train or something but she could definitely make it to Rosewood and back before the weekend was up. She'd just do some quick shopping tonight, commute to Rosewood real quick, drop off those gifts, play the role of the good mom for a bit and be back in time for her morning classes. It was a brilliant plan, that didn't go exactly the way she planned it...

She made it over to the toy store. There were still some things left, but they were closing soon so she was more or less rushed out the door. With an evil smirk, she bought a dollhouse and a few packs of dolls, reveling in the dread she was going to cause her ex. She had the cashier wrap them up for her, paying a little extra for some impressive bows and such. Then she rewarded herself with a new perfume, and some earrings before driving back home for the day.

The tickets pre-bought, all she had to do was board the bus and then train the next morning. She almost missed her bus, with her alarm clock being a few minutes behind -the battery must've been dying- but despite that, it was a pretty uneventful trip back to Rosewood. While costly, the look on Emily's face when the girls unwrap the dollhouse, would be worth every penny, she reasoned as she hailed a cab.

The cab trip was fine. She checked into Radley -voluntarily- and quickly freshened up, and had a facial and a massage before she left to deliver the presents, wanting to look her best in order to make her ex-wife jealous, but little did she know that all that effort was completely wasted. She stopped off in front of her old house. It was surprisingly quiet and empty-looking from the outside. Maybe they'd all gone out? she wondered, but as she stared she started to feel uneasy because something was really off.

Where was the Fields festive flair? Where were the lights and snowmen and nativity scenes that Emily used to prepare? All that stood before her was an empty house. This cannot be where Emily and the girls were staying.

"Can I help you?" Probed a voice from afar. She turned to see her cousin, Spencer, in her front lawn, in a pair of jeans and a turtleneck sweater.

"I was hoping you could. Where has everybody gone?"

"Out. Why do YOU care?"

"I came here to drop off some presents... for the girls."

"What's the matter? You get a visit from the ghost of Christmas past?"

"Something like that. Can you tell me where to drop these off?"

"I suppose you could leave them in my house." Spencer suggested as she started trekking back. Alison followed, curiosity winning over, as she wondered what the deal was with Spencer and Emily and the empty house.

"You can drop them off here." She said, pointing at a pile of presents under her tree. "I'll let them know you dropped them off, if you want me to."

"I was hoping to deliver these in person."

"Oh. Really? Okay, well, you're a little late for that. They've all gone out you know, for Christmas."

"When are they coming back?"

"Sometime after New Year."

"Shit. Alright, would you tell them I said hi or whatever?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Alright."

Alison dropped off the boxes under the Christmas tree, disappointed but somewhat happy that at the very least, no one would try to guilt her into coming back or at least staying until the new year. Convinced she dodged a bullet, and that Emily had taken the girls out of town in order to cheer them up because they were all broken hearted, thinking Alison wouldn't stop by, she smiled smugly as she turned to walk away.

"Bye Spencer." She waved as she started walking to the door. Spencer nodded, her arms crossed, as she watched Alison start to leave, just as quickly as she had arrived, like a whirlwind. Alison took a few steps before her smile faltered and dropped. She barely caught it - in fact if she hadn't dropped the presents off so close to the tree she wouldn't have seen it but as she turned around, her suspicion was confirmed.

On the mantle, right next to the photo of Melissa with her husband and kid, was a photo of Spencer, Emily, the girls, Santa and _PAIGE._

"What the hell is this?" She asked, ripping the picture off the mantelpiece.

"A bag of gummy bears. What do you THINK it is?"

"An act of betrayal. HOW LONG? HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON BETWEEN THEM, AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN AND NOT UTTERED A SINGLE WORD?" Alison shrieked.

"Okay, first of all, none of that is any of your business. YOU signed the divorce papers and you got that divorce. Emily doesn't have to run anything by you anymore, not that she ever did, because she's NOT your slave!" Spencer replied, calmly.

"And second?" Alison sneered.

"Second, you give yourself way too much credit. For someone who prides themselves on reading people, you seemed to have missed a pretty important detail." Spencer smirked.

Alison looked at the photo again, and sure enough, a certain glint caught her eye. The women had their arms wrapped around each other. If no one knew them, they might think they're friends, but to a more discerning eye, the matching rings on their wedding fingers would have painted a different picture. Alison dropped the frame in shock. It bounced off the carpeted floor towards Spencer who picked it up, wiped a smudge on the frame and replaced it on the mantelpiece.

"Thirdly, would you kindly abscond before my wives get home? I don't really feel like entertaining company tonight."

Alison was too startled to come up with a comeback. All she could see in her mind was those matching Cartier wedding rings, glinting and shining in the stupid mall photo. Fuming, she started to storm off when she ran into Paige and Emily at the door. The children weren't beside them... probably spending the night with Pam. Alison grimaced as she realized she walked in on a date night. Stuck in the hallway, wedged between people she hates, the only thought running through her mind was "FUCK YOU MONA!".

* * *

It was 6pm on a Friday night. Mona was just finishing grocery shopping. Suddenly she felt a chill run down her back, as if someone walked on her grave or something. She shrugged it off and kept shopping. She had a fruit cake to bake tonight. She wondered how long it would take for Alison to return her pie dish. Maybe she should just get another one...


	12. 12 Oh Great Socks

This might be the last update to this story until December, because I want to move onto other stuff. I poured a lot of love into this one though, and I hope you enjoy. :)

Seven year old Paige McCullers lay in her bed. The seashell clock on the wall ticked slowly along as she waited for the sun to rise. Every few seconds she'd look up at it and check the time. 5:45 am. 5:46 am. 5:47...

Time was barely ticking on. She sighed as she lay back and tried to go back to sleep. She quickly progressed from counting sheep to counting mermaids and fish -which she honestly preferred- when the paddock she conjured up in her imagination ran out of viable sheep to count. The sea however was endless, and that was one of the coolest things about it.

She smiled as she imagined she was in the water right now, wading through the shallows to the deep, smiling as she waved at a mermaid who was just her age and roughly her size, and would totally be cool with letting her ride on her back, like an underwater piggyback. Her smile grew wider when she got closer to her friend, Emily, from school, who was really a mermaid, and had told her so in confidence -at least in her dreams.

It was about 5:52 now, but Paige wouldn't know because her eyes were shut. She imagined her friend led her to an underwater cave where she kept her favorite things. She let her look at all her trinkets and toys, and then led her to her underwater palace. Emily wasn't just a normal mermaid! She deserved a palace! And if she couldn't have one in real life, Paige would give her one in her dreams.

She cuddled her stuffed dolphin tighter as she imagined Emily led her through her mermaid town up to the palace. Giant seahorses stand at attention on the stairs leading up into the throne room, where a chorus of crabs serenades the king of the mermaids. Paige salutes him as she's rushed by. Emily carries her all the way into her room, past an octopus that's juggling a great big pile of laundry. Even the mundane was fun down here.

Emily's room is amazing. Lit entirely by jellyfish, it looks completely ethereal. Her bed, a clam, sits off to the side and she has a small rockpool in the center of her room where she keeps her pets. She had a couple of seahorses in different colors -pink and purple and blue- a few small crustaceans pacing between the rocks and some bioluminescent starfish decorated the walls of her room, which opened up with huge archways that allowed the moonlight to stream through and illuminate her room, small holes on the ceiling casting stars on the floor.

The walls themselves were made of coral and sandstone. Bleached coral was stripped and cut and joined to form the shell of Emily's castle. At first Paige thought it was a cave system but Emily explained that her family had been working on their castle for generations, each branch of the house spreading out and adding onto the main building over time. Her own father helped build her room when she was a littler girl, and she got to pitch in and help and pick things out with him. She handpicked every single coral, and even helped carry some of the smaller rocks.

Mermaid-Emily would smile proudly as she talked about the feats she accomplished, helping to build her room. Paige would stare up at her and nod along, completely transfixed. She handpicked the clam she'd have as a bed?! She helped install the plant privacy curtain and her dad lifted her up so she would hang up the starfish?! That was amazing. Paige stared on in admiration. Emily blushed and shook Paige's praises off. It was fun but it was no big deal. Paige had only hung up glowing star stickers in her room.

Emily smiled and Paige smiled back. "Do you wanna race crabs on the beach with me?" She asked. Paige nodded eagerly and before she knew it they were on the shore. Emily picked a red crab, and Paige's crab was blue. They etched a start line on the sand with some driftwood and dug out some tunnels for the crabs to run through, then finally marked out the end and set their crabs loose to the count of three.

Paige's crab started with the lead but Emily's caught up. However it stumbled onto a twig and got surpassed by a blur of blue in no time. 'Bluey' couldn't keep the lead for very long though, getting distracted and wandering off for a bit. Emily's pick struggled but eventually it overcame the twig obstacle and marched on at a steady pace. Paige called her crab back to attention and soon they were head to head, racing for the final part of the race.

There was a small pool of water they'd have to go through. Emily's crab got confused and turned around, but Emily quickly turned it around and it was back in the water. Paige's leisurely swam through the pool, taking no heed of Emily's crab's race to catch up. In the end they crossed the finish line together. It was a photo finish but the girls decided to call it a tie. They shook hands amicably, giggling, as they challenged each other to a race down the beach.

Nick and Amy were surprised to find their daughter still in bed at 7 o'clock on Christmas morning. They woke up to a quiet house, and decided to investigate where their little hellion is, since usually they couldn't keep her in her bed to save themselves on a normal day, let alone on Christmas morning. They were surprised to find her snoozing away in her bed. They thanked god for this Christmas miracle as they approached their little darling, both of them sitting by her in bed.

"Paige? Sweetheart? It's Christmas day! Don't you want to get up and get ready? Grandma and Grandpa will be over soon..."

Paige smiled sweetly in her sleep as she started to stir. She stretched out her arms -like a cat- over her head and started opening her eyes while her mother rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"Sweet dreams?" Her father asked.

"The sweetest!" She confirmed.

"You ready to rise, champ?"

"In a minute! How long 'til Granma and Grandpa get here?"

"Not too long. Just a few hours. Their flight should be landing soon."

"Do you think Santa came last night?"

"Why don't we go and check?

"Okay."

They made their way down to the Christmas tree, Paige slowly waking up as her father carried her down the stairs, and her mother led the expedition to the living room where a great big tree cast its shadow on piles of beautifully gift-wrapped boxes. Amy smiled at Nick in gratitude for wrapping all the gifts last night while she took Paige to the park. He really did an excellent job. And he even took the time to eat some of the cookies last night when he placed the presents under the tree. The extra step wasn't unnoticed by his family.

"WOAH! HE CAME! HE LEFT SO MANY PRESENTS! AND HE EVEN LEFT ME A COOKIE!" Paige yelled out enthusiastically. Nick and Amy snickered as Paige started nibbling on the stale confectionery as she took in the sights.

"I think there might be a few more cookies left in the kitchen. Why don't you get settled in, while I fetch them?" offered Nick. Amy grabbed a few pillows off the couch for her and Nick and sat down on the floor with Paige, who was already sorting the presents into large piles. She knew how to read well enough to discern her family's names and by the time Nick returned with three glasses of milk and a platter of cookies and fruit, Paige was positively vibrating with excitement.

"Which one should I open first?" She asked, looking up with those big brown eyes.

"I don't know... isn't it a bit too early to be opening gifts? Maybe we should say a prayer first." Nick teased as he settled into his pillow, sharing around the contents of his tray.

"Oh come on! Stop teasing her!" Amy cut in when Paige seemed like she was about to burst into tears. She may have been older now but she was still a kid, and she could only wait so long for her presents. She'd already waited 365 days for them. Wasn't it enough?

"Alright, why don't you start with this one?" said Nick, pointing at what he knew was going to be a gag gift. Paige picked it up with a knowing smile, and put on the performance of her life as she unwrapped the bow on what she was sure was really a bundle of clothes.

"Oh Great. Socks." She mumbled with a cheeky smile as she looked up at her dad. He ALWAYS hid something silly in her pile of gifts, thinking he's some sort of comedian. She stood up and wrapped him in a tackle hug.

"How did you know? It's what I've always wanted! You can never have too many of these..." Nick teased as Paige giggled in his lap.

"You're hilarious, Nick." Amy replied sarcastically as Nick continued to tickle their kid. "Here, try this one, baby." She offered as she reached over and grabbed a firmer looking box.

"Ooh! I wander what that is!" Nick supplied as Paige impatiently ripped the wrapping off the plastic box. It was a great big box of Legos. A huge mix of assorted colours and pieces that she could use to create anything her heart desired. She made a mental note to try and flesh out mermaid Emily's bedroom as she put the box down and wrapped her parents in a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're welcome honey. Try that one next!"

Paige sat down and stared at her pile of presents in wonderment when they were done. There was the Lego brick box, shaped like a Lego brick itself, and it was next to the game of Life, and Scrabble, Crayola art case, her play doh set, under her brand new tennis racket, next to her sea monkeys and her Barbie bicycle. The mermaid Barbie was in her lap. Later she would try to colour her hair black with that very same Crayola set. She decided while munching on one of her stocking fillers. It was mostly candy but there was also the odd little knick-knack and even a pretty necklace with a butterfly on it. She threw it on when she heard her best friend was dropping in for a visit.

Now she sat by her pile of presents, eagerly awaiting to show them off and hoping she gets to stay a while so they can play with them a bit. Her mom made her a hot chocolate and she'd put on the sweater her grandma sent her as well as her fluffy new socks -that weren't half bad after all- and after bouncing around on her pogo stick for about an hour, she settled down and tried to make a visually pleasing pile of her gifts.

The bell rang and Paige used what energy she had to dash to the door. She threw it open and ran straight past Pam and Wayne, wrapping their daughter in a giggly hug as her own parents brought up the rear, greeting everyone with warm smiles and friendly hugs as well.

"I MADE YOU COOKIES!" Emily shouted enthusiastically as she pressed the small gift bag into Paige's hands. "THEY'RE CHRISTMAS TREES!" She pointed out as Paige loosened the ribbon and reached into the bag. Sure enough there were five medium sized gingerbread cookies in the shape of trees, adorned with marshmallow ornaments and glazed garlands. Paige hugged Emily much tighter as she thanked her for her gift.

The girls ran into the house, barely casting a glance at the adults as Paige led Emily to the tree, and helped her get on her new pogo stick. It took a few tries, and Emily leaned on Paige rather heavily for support but she managed to get a rhythm going eventually, even though this sort of toy wasn't really her thing. Paige smiled proudly up at her as she continued showing her her gifts.

"I like your necklace!" Emily said, discarding the pogo stick after a little while. They sat face to face by the tree as Paige showed her her Barbie.

"Thanks." Paige blushed. "I like your..." 'face' she wanted to say but felt a little too self conscious to voice that out loud so she settled for "braid".

It was Emily's turn to blush and they both looked down and away, smiling, as they blushed a deep red.

"Who wants eggnog?" Paige's father called out from the hallway.

"I DO! I DO! I DO!" the girls chanted.

Paige reached under the tree and brought out a little box she'd wrapped by her own self.

"This one's for you, Em!" she said as she handed it to her best friend.

Emily took the present and regarded it reverently. "Wow! You got this for me?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I even wrapped it for ya!" Paige replied, blushing once again as Emily gingerly traced the outline of the small square box.

"This is amazing, Paige! Thank you so much!" she said emphatically as she tried to burn the image into her brain permanently. Her heartbeat raced as she gingerly pulled on a length of ribbon, watching it all come undone. Paige shivered and Emily's breathing shallowed as she unwrapped the gift ever so elegantly.

She took in the box underneath. It was from a jewellery store her father bought her mother's gifts from. Her eyebrows creased as she propped it open to find a silver charm bracelet inside. As it stood, it only had a few charms on it; a shark and a dolphin. Emily guffawed as she realized they represented herself and Paige. They got these nicknames in swim camp; the Rosewood Shark and Dolphin, with Paige being the shark and Emily the dolphin. She smiled big as she tackled Paige in a huge hug.

"Thank you."

"Do you like it?"

"I love it!"

Emily turned into the hug and before Paige knew it she felt a pair of lips on her cheek. She blushed and looked away as they both giggled, as their parents finally joined them in the living room.

"Is that scrabble? I wouldn't mind going a round or two against your old man." Wayne told Paige as he sat down next to Emily, Pam on his other side as Paige's parents sat opposite them, handing the girls their eggnog -alchohol free, spiced with a little cinnamon- and laughed.

"Trust me, you do NOT want to do that. Nick is a sore loser. You're better off playing Legos or something. Much less chance of hearing him throw a fit at the end of the day." Amy laughed.

"I do NOT throw fits. I simply complain...loudly." Nick joked back.

The adults chatted a bit while Emily and Paige played with their dolls. Paige insisted Emily get her new mermaid doll and that she play with Emily's older Barbie, even though Emily felt bad for taking away her new toy. But Paige wouldn't hear of it -after all, she'd get to play with the doll long after Emily left- and insisted on sharing it. Besides, her and Barbara were friends now anyway, and she wanted to catch up with her old mate.

Emily laughed tenderly as she took the mermaid doll. She held her gingerly -she was new AND a princess!- as she wafted through the imaginary seabed. It reminded Paige of the dream she had in the morning and she blushed, feeling a little embarrassed about dreaming of Emily.

"Ahem..." At some point, Nick cleared his throat. Both girls looked up, giving him their full attention as he continued. "We've known each other for a long time, and we couldn't be happier with how well you two are getting along, and Emily, you're like a second daughter to us."

"And Paige is almost like another Fields girl" Wayned added.

"Which is why" Nick continued "We decided that this year we will be vacationing together. We'll even bring you kids too!" He joked.

Paige and Emily looked at their parents for confirmation, and when they were sure this was not a joke, they ran up and hugged their parents, jumping on the spot.

In Summer they would be staying at Nick's sister's lakeside cabin for free, and over Winter they'd be going skiing together. Paige had never been, but Emily promised to show her the ropes. She'd never been skiing either, but she wanted to repay her for helping her with the Pogo stick earlier today. They spent the rest of the night making plans and talking things out, excited about their impending trip, and to this day, they still vacation together, only now Emily and Paige share a Queen size bed, and their names, and not just a room.


End file.
